Lost and Found
by Fae2135
Summary: There is no gain without loss... no victory without sacrifice. My reworking of Wicked the Musical, Act 2, starting from Thank Goodness. Warning: will be much darker than the original musical. Pairings: Fiyeraba
1. Thank Goodness

**A/N: Hello, everyone! Welcome to Wicked Fic #10! LOL I know, I know, I'm crazy! But this one I actually have planned out from beginning to end (I really do – the outline's, like, five freaking pages long!), so maybe I'll have a better chance of finishing it!**

**Anyways, as the summary stated, this is my reworking of Wicked the Musical, Act 2, and explores some different options of what might have happened. And I must give credit where credit is due:**

**This story was inspired loosely by "The Witches of Oz" by TheWickedWitchOfOz.**

**The scenario which begins at the end of this chapter and continues into the next was suggested to my mind by "Contrapasso" by elphabathedelirious32.**

**If either of you guys ever at any point feel like I am plagiarizing your work, please let me know, and I will fix the problem immediately!**

**And a HUGE, GIGANTIC thankees goes out to my pal Lauren, aka kaliawai512!!! Without her, this fic would not be here! The fantastic plot summary I have now is due entirely to a long, involved IM chat that I had with her. Talking through the details with her helped me figure out how to tie all the important elements of the musical back in – you wouldn't BELIEVE how much of the essential Wicked details I had been planning to leave out, or at least forget about until I got to them! So all you die-hard fans of Wicked the Musical out there, you can thank Lauren for helping me put in all the stuff we love!**

**And yes, all the song lyrics and dialogue in this chapter, at least until Fiyero runs off and leaves Glinda standing at the platform, comes directly from the script of Wicked.**

**All righty, then, enough of this incredibly-too-long A/N! Go on and READ!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Wicked. (That's not an original line, I saw it on a fic of someone else's once, and I really liked it, so I borrowed it. I don't remember who wrote the fic I saw it on, but if you're reading this, sorry for stealing, and don't kill me, pweeze! LOL Jeesh, even my DISCLAIMERS need disclaimers! How sad is that?)**

**xXxXx**

Fiyero Tiggular couldn't for the life of him figure out why everyone was so damn happy. Why, they actually looked like there was something to celebrate, some reason to rejoicify. Even his longtime girlfriend Glinda the Good, properly named Glinda Upland, gave every appearance that she was genuinely enjoying herself up here on the platform, waving to all the adoring Ozians who looked to her for comfort and guidance. Only Fiyero knew otherwise. He was the only one who was ever allowed to peer beneath the bubbly blonde's mask of perfect contentment to see all the pain that she really carried inside. Fiyero knew the mask well, for it was the same one he donned every day… the same one he had donned every day since _she_ left.

_She_. Her. Elphaba. Elphie. The Wicked Witch of the West. Somehow, none of the names seemed to really be an exact fit for the enigma that was Elphaba Thropp. _Enigma_. He nearly laughed to himself as he thought the word. Before meeting her, he wouldn't have even known what a word like 'enigma' meant, let alone how to use it properly. But even in the short time he'd known her, Elphaba had changed him forever. She had made him want to be different, want to be… better. She had made him want to be something more than the rich, playboy party prince that, on the surface, at least, had been all he was. Somehow she had seen through his façade, through all the layers he'd put up to keep life as far away as possible, and she had blasted them to pieces. All of that in one moment of her hand desperately gripping his, warm, surprisingly soft… the briefest touch of her fingertips across his cheek, just there, so bold and yet achingly tentative… a few agonizing but all-too-brief instants when his sapphire blue eyes had been arrested completely by hers, a brown so dark they could almost be called black. The dappled sunlight pattern of the forest had been reflected in those piercing dark eyes, and for a clock-tick or two he could have sworn that he was looking at the night sky, infinite and sparkling with possibility.

He had noticed Elphaba at the Oz Dust Ballroom before this, of course. That was the first sight he ever had of her, and who could ever forget it – the emerald green skin, the drab, simple frock, and that hat! It was like nothing he'd ever seen before and nothing he hoped to see again, but somehow it suited her exactly. Yes, he had noticed her at the party, and had occasionally thought about her afterwards. Just little things – _I wonder if Elphaba likes this weather,_ or _I wonder what Elphaba's favorite color is_, or _I wonder if Elphaba had trouble with this homework._ But it wasn't until the day he had helped her rescue that Lion cub from History class that she had taken over his thoughts completely. After those few minutes spent alone with her, all he could think of was the feel of her skin against his as she took his hand, the look in her dark eyes – amazingly deep, soulful eyes – as her fingers moved hesitantly, tenderly, to wipe a smudge of blood from his cheek. From that day on, he had known that Elphaba was something very special.

That day was also the first and only time he'd ever seen her display her magical abilities, although Glinda had told him later how in the Emerald City the green girl had enchanted an ordinary broom to fly and escaped from under the noses of the Wizard's guards, defying anyone to stop her. He had only seen her once more after the Lion cub – at the train station, to see her and Glinda off on their trip to the Emerald City. The trip from which Elphaba had never returned. Three times he had seen her in all; three short encounters that had probably lasted a grand total of less than five minutes; three moments in time that had left their mark on him forever.

After she left, he and Glinda had had to carry on as best they could at Shiz without her. They missed her witty, sarcastic comments, her often-infuriating and always astounding habit of answering every question correctly in class, her rare smiles and, rarer still, her laughter. She always sounded so surprised when she laughed, as though she wasn't expecting such a sound to come out of her own mouth. And gradually they grew accustomed to life without her, or at least pretended to themselves and to each other that they did. It was mainly thanks to Elphaba that Fiyero and Glinda had stayed a couple as long as they had – no matter how much or how badly they argued, they never even considered abandoning each other, because they felt that they were the only two in the world now who were keeping the knowledge of their vanished friend's true nature alive. Even her sister Nessa had begun to believe, without much coaxing, that Elphaba had turned wicked. A Wicked Witch.

Fiyero hated to hear them call her that. She was not wicked; she had merely threatened to expose the Wizard of Oz for the complete charlatan that he was and ruin his plans for the degradation of all of Oz's Animals. It was for _that_ that she was being punished, not for any wicked aspect of her nature. He personally believed that out of everyone he had ever met, Elphaba alone had no capacity for wickedness. She was too honest, too real. As for a Witch… well, it was certainly no fault of hers that she had been born with these strange powers that she possessed. And if being able to control them, instead of having them flare up without warning and cause unnecessary damage, made her a Witch, well, then, by Oz, he was glad she was one!

After graduation last year, he and Glinda had both been surprised when the Wizard and Madam Morrible offered the Gillikinese girl the position that was to have been Elphaba's. And Fiyero had been even more surprised when Glinda accepted it, apparently without question. She explained to him privately that she was taking the job because she wanted to make Elphie proud of her. With that job, the blonde girl said, she knew she could change things, make them better. And she had. All of Oz was now devoted beyond question to Glinda the Good. For his part, Fiyero had applied for a position in the Wizard's guards so that he could be near Glinda – and also maybe, just maybe, because deep down, he wanted to make a difference, too. He made friends quickly – all the other young guards liked him because he was a prince, but he didn't flaunt it or expect any special treatment. But even with all his connections, he had risen through the ranks even quicker than had been expected of him. Soon he was Captain of the Guard, and like Glinda, he intended to do everything in the power that his new position offered to help thwart the Wizard's death grip on Oz.

The first time he put on his new captain's uniform, he could just picture Elphaba sitting there, watching him with wry amusement. _So, you're one of _them_ now, are you?_ she seemed to be asking. He was quick to assure her that he wasn't, but lately he wasn't even sure if he believed his promises to her himself…

Suddenly Glinda discreetly nudged him, and he realized that Madam Morrible was speaking to him now. "…been at the forefront of the hunt for the Wicked Witch, haven't you?"

"Er… yes," he replied, trying not to show that he had been lost in his own thoughts (who would ever have thought him capable of _that!_). Then, seeing an opportunity to interject a good word for Elphaba, he stepped closer to the microphone on the podium and continued, "But I don't like to think of her as a wicked witch."

"Captain, how's it feel?" Morrible tried again, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Frustrating," he answered honestly. But I became captain of the guard to find her, and I will keep searching!" He let them all think that the fervor in his voice was exactly the opposite of what he really felt for her.

But Morrible suddenly cut him off with a false, bubbly laugh. "No, no – being engaged!"

"Congratulotions!" shouted the entire assembled crowd.

Stunned, he turned to the petite girl beside him, who was waiting eagerly for his reaction. "Glinda… this is an _engagement_ party?"

She nodded, delighted at having pulled off her little trick. "Surprised?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes!" he had to admit, still trying to comprehend exactly what was going on. He didn't remember ever officially asking her to marry him.

But, Glinda being Glinda, the less-than-pleased tone of his voice was lost on her. "Good! We hoped you'd be – the Wizard and I!" And as she continued babbling to the crowd about how happy they both were, he could only stand there beside her, smiling slightly and nodding in stupefied amazement.

Finally Morrible broke in. "Oh, and Glinda, _dear,_ we are happy for you! As Press Secretary, I have striven to ensure that all of Oz knows the story of your braverism. How vividly I remember…" She directed her next comments to the audience as well as Glinda. "…the day you were first summoned to an audience with Oz, and although he would not tell you why initially, when you bowed before his throne, he decreed you'd hence be known as Glinda the Good, officially!"

Fiyero leaned over to his girlfriend – well, fiancée now – still smiling, and whispered out of the corner of his mouth, "That's not how you described it to me."

"Oh, no, not exactly," she hissed back, managing to maintain her toothy grin, "but we'll talk about that later."

He did not have enough time to respond before Morrible continued, "Then with a jealous squeal, the wicked witch burst from concealment, where she had been lurking… surreptitially!"

There were gasps from among the crowd. Then a woman somewhere spoke up. "I hear she has an extra eye that always remains awake!

From another direction, a man added, "I hear that she can shed her skin as easily as a snake!"

"I hear some rebel animals are giving her food and shelter," contributed a second woman.

All eyes flew to the bridge up above them as another man stated, "I hear her soul is so unclean, pure water can melt her!"

This last rumor caused quite a stir among the onlookers, and Fiyero turned once again to Glinda, this time not bothering to even try to hide his disgust. "Do you hear that? Water will _melt_ her? People are so empty-headed, they'll believe anything!" And with that, he stormed off down the back stairs of the platform, not caring how ridiculous the criticism sounded coming from him of all people. He stopped short behind a curtain hanging a few feet away and waited for his fiancée to join him. Sure enough, as he had known would happen, it was only a matter of a clock-tick before a pair of high heels clacked closer and closer and Glinda appeared before him, wearing an expression that clearly warned, _You had better have a good reason for interrupting our party._

"Fiyero, what in Oz's name has gotten into you?" she demanded, sounding annoyed.

He shook his head. "I can't just stand here grinning pretending to go along with all of this!"

Glinda gave a heavy sigh, and suddenly she was no longer the glittering blonde princess adored by all of Oz. Her outward shell of perfection fell away to reveal a scared young girl who was hurting just as much as he was. "Do you think I _like_ to hear them say those awful things about her?" she wondered, not giving him time to answer before asserting, "I hate it!"

"Then what are we doing here? Let's go, let's get out of here!" Fiyero took her by the hand and started to lead her away. Where they'd go, he had no idea, but anywhere had to be better than this.

But Glinda dug in her heels. "I can't leave now. Not when people are looking to me to raise their spirits."

Fiyero stopped and turned to her, disappointed. "You can't leave, because you can't resist this," he corrected her. "And that's the truth."

Glinda stood her ground, but now she was looking a bit uncertain. "Maybe I can't. Is that so wrong? I mean, who _could?_" She looked up at him, obviously hoping he would tell her that he understood and that it was all right that she couldn't seem to give up the life of sparkle and glamour.

But he was through pretending to accept the sham of a life they were living. Right after Elphaba disappeared, Glinda had changed, too. She'd become more thoughtful, more withdrawn, more considerate of others, and quite honestly he had thought the change suited her. But now he saw that change being reversed. She was once again becoming the popular beauty queen she'd been in their days at Shiz. "You know who could," he reminded her rather angrily. "And who _has_."

"Fiyero, I miss her too, but we can't just stop living," admonished Glinda, placing her hands on his shoulders. "No one has searched harder for her than you. But don't you see? She doesn't want to be found." Her voice grew quiet, faintly tearful. "We have to face it."

Fiyero sighed heavily and nodded, seeing the sense in her words. "You're right. I'm sorry, you're right." He forced a smile. "And if it's going to make you happy, of course I'll marry you," he quipped, attempting to make a joke.

Glinda didn't get it. Lines of worry creased her forehead. "But it'll make you happy too, right?"

"You know me... I'm always happy," he shrugged, not entirely able to keep the bitter irony out of his voice. Right at this moment, he was anything _but_ happy. Suddenly he was overcome with a desperate need to get out of there, to be anywhere but on that platform, in front of that crowd, smiling at the world like nothing was wrong. So he turned on his heel and ran off.

"Fiyero!" Glinda called after him, sounding startled and slightly hurt. But he didn't turn around. He'd apologize to her later.

Right now he needed somewhere that he could be alone for a while, where he could just sit and think. (Again with him and thinking! Elphaba really _had_ changed him.) He made for the one place in the palace that he was sure would be deserted, what with the party and all: the dungeon. But to his surprise, as he descended the dank stone staircase, he heard the sound of voices and the crack of a whip from one of the interrogation rooms below. Odd. He hadn't thought there were any interrogations scheduled for today. Fiyero didn't approve of the guards' methods of getting information out of prisoners, but luckily, as captain, he wasn't expected to participate in these torture sessions, and delegated the job to other more willing soldiers. When he could get away with it, he tried to use his authority to keep them from going too far, but he couldn't say too much, or the men under his command might get suspicious.

He poked his head in the door of the room the voices were coming from to find two of his men there with a prisoner he didn't recall ever seeing before, a woman. The interrogation had not been going on long, from the looks of things. The prisoner was against the wall, face right up against the cold stones, arms held above her head by a pair of handcuffs fixed high up. Naked from the waist up, her long black hair was tucked over one shoulder, leaving her back bare. The exposed skin already displayed multiple long lash marks that oozed blood.

"Dammit, you, _scream!_" the soldier holding the whip was fuming. The prisoner gave no reply, other than to make a derisive sound in the back of her throat.

"What's going on here? What is this?" asked Fiyero, now stepping fully into the room.

Both of the men looked over at him in surprise, and then grinned in welcome. "Ah, captain! You're just in time!" the man without the whip greeted him gleefully.

"In time for what, Sandehr?"

"We've caught her!"

"Well, I can see _that_. But who _is_ she?"

"Why, the Wicked Witch of the West!"

It was only then that Fiyero's brain registered what his eyes had been telling him all along: beneath the marks from the whip, the skin of the woman's back was a vivid emerald green.

_Elphaba…_

As though in response to him thinking her name, the woman turned her head to get a glimpse of the new arrival. He found himself staring into a pair of very familiar piercing dark eyes.

**xXxXx**

**Oooh, cliffie! How did Elphaba get captured? What will Fiyero do now? And what will the Wizard and Morrible do when they find out she's been brought into custody? All these questions and more will be answered in chapter two!**

**Oh, yes! I am bringing some Animals into the story in a few chapters. So in your review, if you would like to, feel free to give me a name and what type of Animal it is, and I'll try to use it! Thankees!**


	2. On the Line

**A/N: So, here's chapter two! I must say, guys, I am TERRIBLY disappointed with the utter lack of response to chapter one! I know you're reading, because "Lost and Found" is already on the alert lists of 4 people. SO WHY AREN'T YOU REVIEWING??????? If I do not get AT LEAST TEN new reviews by the time I'm ready to post the next chapter, I will not be continuing, because unless I get a review from you, I will assume that you are not reading it, and why should I waste my time updating something that nobody is reading? So if you want more, you'd better review and let me know. Thus ends my angry authoress rant.**

**Oh, and to Arduenna: Forgiven and forgotten:D I was in a bad mood myself when I wrote that little part of the A/N, so I understand completely! And you were right; I was a bit out of line. I changed it to be a bit nicer, so hopefully now more people will want to review! LOL And I'm glad you liked the cliffie – chapter three will be coming soon!**

**Anyways, we finally get to find out how Elphaba got captured in the first place, and what Fiyero is going to do about it. I know there are some things that seem kind of iffy, but bear with me, I'll explain in the A/N at the end. And I hope you like the cliffie at the end of the chapter! .: cackles maniacally :.**

**Disclaimer: 'Tis not mine. Oh, what I would do…**

**xXxXx**

For a clock-tick or two, he was too stunned to speak. It took a great effort to keep his face blank. She'd finally come back, after all this time! He'd wondered every day what it would be like to see her again, and now here she was…

"We caught her upstairs in the Wizard's throne room," the guard with the whip explained proudly. "She was trying to set free those winged monkeys that he keeps in that giant cage."

" 'Try'?" Elphaba spoke for the first time, and her voice was the same as he remembered it, though a bit harsh with the effort to keep it steady in spite of the pain she was in. "I did more than try. Those monkeys are miles away by now."

"Shut up, witch!" The guard gave her another lash with the whip. Elphaba's shoulders jerked, but she did not cry out.

The sight snapped Fiyero's brain back into gear. He stepped forward and held out his hand for the whip. "Give me that, Wyrn," he ordered. The inferior soldier obeyed, shooting him a questioning glance, and, thinking on the fly, he elaborated, "I want to do this myself."

Wyrn's face cleared, and he gave a nasty smile. "Very good, sir."

"The two of you are dismissed. I'll handle the witch." The word felt dirty on his tongue, and he had to keep from making a face as he said it. Elphaba's face remained expressionless, but the betrayal and despair in her eyes cut him to the quick. Sweet Oz, she actually believed that he meant the awful things he was saying! He wanted more than anything to assure her that he wasn't going to hurt her, but he had to continue with the ruse, at least until the other two men were gone.

Sandehr got a disappointed look on his face. "But captain…" he began. He had obviously been hoping to get to stay and watch the fun. _Sick, perverted creep._

"I said, you're both dismissed," Fiyero repeated more forcefully, in a tone that brooked no refusal. Curtailing any further protests, the pair saluted and tramped out. Fiyero listened to make sure he heard their boots going all the way up the stairs before pulling the door shut behind them. "Now then…"

She watched him warily, clearly unsure what to expect. He went over to the table that sat in the center of the room and picked up the key that would open the shackles on the wall, then bent to retrieve her blouse from where Wyrn and Sandehr had chucked it in a corner. He came towards her, and she tensed visibly. Giving her a reassuring smile, he reached up and unlocked the handcuffs, then handed her the shirt. "Here," he offered quietly.

She relaxed and let out her breath in a rush, the relief in her eyes melting his heart. "Thank you," she whispered back, and he knew she did not mean only for the blouse. He nodded, and turned his back so she could dress.

She gasped sharply as the fabric made contact with the raw cuts across her back, and he winced involuntarily. "I'm sorry I don't have anything for the cuts," he apologized over his shoulder. "Healing isn't exactly their top priority down here."

"I'm fine," she assured him bravely. Only by listening very carefully could one detect the edge of pain in her voice. "I've had worse, believe me. Luckily you stopped them before they _really_ got going." He felt a light hand on his arm, and looked over to see her standing there, having finished buttoning up her blouse. Some unreadable emotion clouded her eyes, and her voice shook slightly as she confessed, "Fiyero, you frightened me. I thought… I thought you might have changed."

Only the condition of her back stopped him from pulling her into his arms. He settled for taking her hands in his. She flinched, though she tried to hide it – she never had liked unexpected contact – but did not pull away. "I'm sorry if I made you think I was on their side."

"You're not?" Her eyes flickered over his captain's uniform.

"This is nothing but a disguise," he told her. "A way to get on the inside."

"A sheep in wolf's clothing, as it were," she smirked, understanding. Then she frowned slightly and asked, "Why?"

Suddenly rather embarrassed to admit the truth, he was going to give some excuse or other about Glinda, or his parents, or something, but it died before reaching his lips. This was Elphaba. He couldn't – and wouldn't – lie to her. She'd get angry and pull away from him, and he liked having her so close after all this time. It felt so nice to hold her hands in his, to know that she was really there. "To find you. To help you," he finally answered simply.

A surprised, but definitely pleased, expression crossed her angular features. "I didn't know anyone cared enough about me to come searching for me," she said, smiling a bit shyly. Then she glanced at the door. "Well, I suppose _they_ did," she amended, meaning the two soldiers that Fiyero had run off, "but that doesn't count."

"What, you mean you don't appreciate a couple of brutes like them dragging you off to torture you?"

"It wasn't exactly the warmest welcome I've ever received."

Fiyero smirked, glad to see that she hadn't lost her taste for sarcasm. "Yeah, Wyrn and Sandehr really need to work on their hospitality skills." Then his smile turned genuine. "Well, _I'm_ glad to see you, anyway. Glad you're all right."

She looked a bit taken aback at his words, but then she returned the smile. "I'm glad to see you, too, Fiyero. It's nice to know I still have someone who doesn't believe all the lies the Wizard and Morrible spread about me."

"Well, there's Glinda, too," he reminded her.

"Ah, yes. I've been awfully proud of her, reading about everything she's done to help Oz. I always knew that somewhere inside her was a person that cared about something more than the latest fashions."

"I don't think she's changed _that_ much."

Elphaba smiled. "I'd be a little disappointed to hear otherwise." Then she tilted her head a bit to one side and asked off-handedly, "So tell me, are you two still together?"

The casual question caught him off guard. For some strange reason, he was suddenly extremely reluctant to admit that this was the case. But once more, he knew he couldn't lie to her. "Yeah, we are, actually," he answered slowly. "In fact, we… uh… we just got engaged."

"Engaged?" Something flickered briefly in her dark eyes that he couldn't name – or maybe he didn't want to. "Well, congratulations. I'm sure you'll be very happy together." Fiyero shrugged indifferently, and she gave him a surprised look. "What?"

"I don't know…" He hesitated, unsure if he ought to share his true feelings on the matter. But Elphaba was watching him, waiting attentively to hear what he had to say. And the prospect of having someone that would actually listen to him was suddenly so appealing that before he knew it, he found himself telling her, "It's just that… well, I'm not really sure if Glinda's the right one for me."

She gave him a look that made him feel like just about the biggest idiot in Oz. "Well, then, why in Oz did you ask her to marry you, Fiyero?"

"That's just it! I never did!" he countered, feeling uncomfortably as though he had to defend himself. "There was this party, and we walked in, and suddenly everyone was congratulating us, and Glinda was telling me that it was an engagement party – for us. What was I supposed to do?"

Elphaba didn't have a good answer to that. "It's a tough spot to be in, I'm sure," she conceded. "The only advice I can give you is to trust yourself. You've got to have faith that whatever choice you make will be the right one."

"But how can I be sure?"

"It's like my old nanny used to tell me: follow your heart, and you won't get lost."

They were looking directly into each other's eyes now, sapphire blue locked onto rich brown. And just for this moment, even though she was the loathed, feared, hunted (and currently captured) Wicked Witch of the West, and even though he was masquerading as the Captain of the Guard and the fiancée of Glinda the Good… even though their respective lives had taken them in directions they would not have chosen to go… both of them suddenly felt that they were right where they belonged. The air between them was charged with something that neither of them could explain or describe, something that was very similar to what Fiyero remembered feeling the day they rescued the Lion cub. Neither one moved or spoke for what seemed like a long time, but was probably mere clock-ticks, trying to discern what this strange sensation was.

Fiyero finally realized that if he was going to help Elphaba escape, they had to go _now_, before anyone else heard the news of her capture and came down to see about it for themselves. He stepped towards the door. "Come on."

"What are you doing?"

"Getting you out of here."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that? There are guards everywhere."

"With these." He produced a pair of handcuffs from the pocket of his uniform jacket with a flourish.

She raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought _I_ was the only one of us who did magic."

"You can be as skeptical as you want," he told her in a mock-offended tone. "But I have a plan."

"Well, well. Wonders apparently never cease."

"Better watch what you say, or I might just decide to leave you here and let those two come back and finish what they started," he warned, but he smiled to assure her that he was only kidding.

She gave him a poorly-feigned look of distress. "Well, when you put it that way… So what's this fantastic plan of yours, then, Oh Intelligent One?"

Diplomatically deciding to ignore the dig, Fiyero began, "You were right about there being guards everywhere. You'd never make it out if you tried to just walk past them. But if you're being _led_ out as a prisoner…"

"Ah. So that's what the handcuffs are for."

"Yeah. If we can make them believe that you're still in our custody, we might just have a chance of getting past them. I'll get you outside to a place where no one will see you, and you can escape from there."

She nodded her understanding and acceptance of the plan. "I can't thank you enough for doing this, Fiyero. Oz only knows what kind of trouble you'll get in if anyone finds out…"

"Let me worry about that," he insisted. "You've got more than enough to deal with at the moment without adding anything else. And besides, I'm always glad to help an old friend."

"Even if that old friend happens to be at the very top of the Wizard's 'most wanted' list?" she wondered, the corners of her mouth curving up.

He smiled back. "_Especially_ then. I figure anyone who fights against the Wizard has to have _some_ good in them. Even a Wicked Witch."

"Or a Captain of the Guard," she returned teasingly. Then she quickly grew serious. "All right, if we're going to try this, we've got to do it now, before all of Oz finds out I'm here."

"You're right. I hate to do this to you, but for the sake of appearances…" He indicated the handcuffs that he still held.

"Of course." She obediently held out her hands, and he put the cuffs on her, leaving them loose enough that they were virtually useless on her thin wrists.

"All right. Are you ready?"

"When you are."

The two of them stepped out into the hallway and headed towards the steps. Fiyero took her by the arm to steady her as they climbed, since she didn't exactly have full use of her hands at the moment, though to anyone else it would have looked as though he was merely escorting the prisoner. For a short while, it seemed as though their hastily contrived escape attempt might just be going to work.

However, when they had nearly reached the top of the stairs, they ran into another of the Wizard's guards coming the opposite direction. "Oh, Captain, there you are!" The man stopped and saluted smartly, and Fiyero paused as well to hear what he had to say. "I was just coming to find you, but I see you've already gotten the order."

"Order?" He gave the soldier a confused look. "What order?"

"The one about the witch, sir," the guard elaborated, casting a glance at Elphaba, who returned it with a disdainful glare.

Fiyero began to get a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"It came from the Wizard himself. He doesn't want to risk anything with this one. He wants her taken care of immediately." The guard pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to him. It took Fiyero every ounce of his soldier's training to keep his face impassive as he read,

_By Order of the Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz,_

_Be it hereby known that Elphaba Thropp, commonly known as the Wicked Witch of the West, has been found guilty of crimes of high treason against the Wizard and against Oz itself. She is therefore condemned to serve the penalty appropriate to her crimes, that penalty being death by execution at the first possible opportunity, in order that all of Oz may see what befalls a traitor._

"So you see, Captain, the order came straight from the top," reiterated the guard when Fiyero had finished glancing over the document.

"Yes, I see." Fiyero thought he might very well be sick right then and there. This was the one obstacle that he had not foreseen when formulating his scheme to help Elphaba escape. And there was no possible way he could get her out of it.

"They're nearly ready outside. I was just coming down to get her."

With her sharp mind, Elphaba had by now gathered what was going on. "So, the old fool's finally gotten tired of having me around, has he?" she surmised, sounding unsurprised. "I wondered how long it'd take him."

"Silence, witch!" the guard growled. "Now, you're coming with me, and you're going to get what you deserve! The Wizard's tolerated you for far too long, if you ask me. Wickedness must be punished, and it's about time you were made an example of." And he grabbed Elphaba by her other arm and began to drag her the rest of the way up the stairs, jerking her out of Fiyero's grasp.

He could do nothing but follow behind them in mute despair as she was led roughly away towards the fulfillment of the Wizard's order. What was he supposed to do now? Whether by accident or design, the heartless monsters (for he was sure that Madam Morrible had had more than a small hand in the matter along with the Wizard himself) had somehow found the one predicament from which he could not possibly save her. There was nothing he could do to help her now without giving his true loyalties away. Any attempt he made would do her more harm than good, he knew, and more likely than not would only earn him a place by her side as she faced the executioner. And although, he discovered with mild surprise, he was more than willing to put his life on the line for her sake, he had a feeling that it was the last thing she would ever want. She had never wanted any of her few friends to come to harm because of her. _You can't help me if you're dead, too,_ he could practically hear her scolding him.

And to top it all off, as if the situation wasn't awful enough already, there was something else. Fiyero had to suppress a groan as he remembered – as Captain of the Guard, he was expected to bear witness whenever a prisoner from the palace was executed. So not only could he not save her… he was going to have to watch her die. And he was going to have to stay completely emotionless while he did it, too. He could not show any sympathy for the Wicked Witch of the West. This was quickly shaping up to be the worst day of his life.

In just a minute, they emerged into a small, open-air square off the back of the palace, away from all the hustle and bustle of the crowds in the front plaza. A gallows stood there, the hooded executioner standing up on the platform waiting for his victim. Fiyero wondered briefly why the Wizard wasn't making this a public event, a spectacle to establish his power even more by killing the person that he himself had made into Oz's Public Enemy Number One. He concluded that the man was so eager to have Elphaba out of the way that he had decided to get rid of her now, while he was sure of his hold on her, rather than wait and risk her having time to escape. _And this way, no one will have a chance to rescue her, either,_ he reflected bitterly. She didn't stand a chance.

To his great surprise, Elphaba did not put up any sort of a fight. It was as though she, too, had realized that nothing she did would make any difference now. She approached the scaffold with an almost otherworldly calm, mounting the few steps up to the platform steadily, one by one. As protocol demanded, the executioner offered her a blindfold, which she declined with a shake of her head. Then the noose was slipped over her head, and the executioner tightened it around her slender neck. This was it. There was no going back now. The Wizard was about to gain his ultimate victory. With Elphaba gone, there was no one else in Oz who would dare stand up to him. His power over the country would be complete. Fiyero couldn't stand the thought.

He was about to look away – he didn't think he could bear to watch her die, she who had always been the most alive person of anyone he knew. But at the last second he found that he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He owed her that much. If he couldn't save her, the least he could do was have the courage to face her death with her. He would not let her see him turn away now.

She seemed to sense his resolve, for her eyes searched the small crowd of soldiers that were watching until they found his. And if he hadn't known better, he could have sworn that she almost smiled at him. His muscles tensed unconsciously as the hangman moved towards the lever that would open the trapdoor beneath her feet, allowing her to dangle from the rope. Elphaba raised her chin, defiant to the bitter end. Then the executioner wrapped his hand around the lever and pulled.

There was a blinding flash of light from the platform, accompanied by a loud crash. When Fiyero could see again, he discovered that every single person there, aside from himself, was now sprawled on the ground, unconscious. Startled, he looked up at the gallows. The rope that was used to hang prisoners dangled above the open trapdoor, swinging gently back and forth.

The noose was empty.

**xXxXx**

**PLEASE READ THIS A/N!!!!!!!!!**

**Muahahahahahahaha, I just LOVE torturing you all like that! Now you will have no choice but to read the next chapter to find out where Elphaba is! Oh, and BTW, all that protocol on the gallows, with the blindfold and such… that's all standard procedure at a hanging, just in case you were wondering.**

**Okay, now for some explaining… **

**First of all, I realize that Elphaba is wounded, and that she's not really acting like it. The way I figure it, she has a much higher tolerance for physical pain than most people. Plus, as she told Fiyero, he stopped the guards before they did anything to really hurt her. Also, she's certainly not about to show her pain in front of anyone else, even (or maybe especially) Fiyero. So that's why she doesn't seem like she's just been whipped.**

**As for the guards not thinking it weird that Fiyero suddenly wants to participate in a torture session, here is how I see it. The Wicked Witch of the West is Oz's Public Enemy Number One. Everyone hates her with a passion (or at least, they're supposed to). So I didn't think the guards would find it strange for Fiyero to want to take part in her interrogation, even though he hasn't for any of the other prisoners. I decided that Wyrn and Sandehr are such warped, twisted people that they are probably just glad Captain Fiyero has finally come to his senses.**

**As I said in the A/N at the beginning of the chapter, I will not be continuing this story unless I get AT LEAST TEN new reviews by the time I'm ready to post chapter three. So if you want to find out what exactly happened on the gallows and where Elphaba is now, you'd better send me a nice big review. Pretty please???**

**Oh, and my offer to make up an Animal character is still open! Just tell me in your review what kind of Animal it is and give me its name, and I will include it!**

**Anyways, that's all for now. Sorry for all the yelling about the reviews, but, I mean, COME ON, PEOPLE! Okay, stopping now…**


	3. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Hello my wonderful readers!

I have said this to many of you individually in review replies, but I figured I might as well make it public.

I sincerely apologize for getting my knickers in a twist about reviews in my chapter two A/N. I should not be ordering people to review, as many of you have reminded me. I was in a most horrendible mood when I posted chapter two, and I'm afraid it leaked into my A/N. From now on, I will accept whatever reviews I get, and be grateful that whoever leaves them is doing so because they CHOSE to, and not because I threatened to discontinue the story if they didn't!

Although, I must say, your response to chapter two was absolutely staggering! I got nearly TWICE the amount of reviews I asked for! So many, many thanks to all, and I take back every mean thing I said in my chapter two A/N!

Anyhow, I hope everyone is having a most enjoyable holiday season. In the words of a certain portly, red-suited, white-bearded gentleman… "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Best Witches and Merry Christmas,

Fae


	4. He Wants To Do WHAT?

**A/N: Merry Christmas everyone! And as my gift to my readers… .: drumroll :. Ta-da! I give you… chapter three! Sorry I kept you waiting; I had intended to post sooner, but… yeah. So anyways, here 'tis! It's a shorter chapter, but I wanted to get something out there. So enjoy! And have a safe, healthy, and VERY Merry Christmas!**

**Disclaimer: If I leave him an extra cookie, maybe Santa will bring me the rights to Wicked… but short of that happening, I don't own it.**

**xXxXx**

Fiyero stared at the place where Elphaba had been for what must have been almost a full minute, nearly unable to comprehend the sights around him. What in Oz had happened? One second she had been up on the gallows, about to be hanged, and the next thing he knew, she had vanished and he was the only one in the little square left standing! He shook his head, bewildered.

Suddenly a hand was laid on his shoulder from behind. He jumped about a foot in the air and had to bite back a small yelp of fright. Whirling quickly to face whoever had touched him, he found Elphaba standing there, regarding him with an amused expression. "I'm sorry, did I scare you? I seem to have that effect on people," she smirked, clearly pleased with the reaction her little stunt had produced.

"_Elphaba!_ Sweet Oz, you're all right!"

"Of course I'm all right. You didn't honestly believe I'd really let them kill me, now did you? As it so happens, I have a rather stubborn fondness for living."

"I should have known you had something up your sleeve," he conceded with a relieved laugh. "But… how did you do that?"

"Well, not all my time is spent breaking into the Wizard's palace, you know," she pointed out as though he should have realized as much himself. "I found some old books on sorcery a while ago, and I figured that just because I wasn't at Shiz anymore didn't mean I had to stop learning how to use my magic. I can control it now, harness it and do things with it."

"If you can do _that – _" he pointed to the scaffold, " – then why didn't you stop those two guards from beating you earlier?"

She shrugged. "Casting a spell takes energy and concentration. I don't really like to use magic unless it's absolutely necessary. Which it wasn't until a minute ago." Glancing around at the unconscious guards, she continued, "Now I've got to get out of here; the spell will be wearing off before long. If you wouldn't mind…" She held out her wrists, which were still handcuffed together.

"Oh. Right." Fiyero quickly extracted the key from his pocket and unlocked the metal cuffs.

"Thanks. Now, then, what did they do with my things?" She muttered a few foreign-sounding words under her breath, and in a moment her broom, hat, and satchel appeared at her feet. She slung the bag over her shoulder and settled the pointy black hat onto her head before snatching up the broom. For just an instant, he saw a brief flash of the Wicked Witch that everyone called her. But then she turned back to him, and her features softened into a slight smile. "Thank you again, Fiyero. It was so good to see you."

"You too, Elphaba. Take care of yourself, all right?"

"I will. And you try and stay out of trouble."

"Well, I'll do my best. But you know me," he joked. "I'm not happy unless I'm the center of attention."

"I thought _I_ was the one who enjoyed causing commotion."

"Ah, but don't you remember? You don't _cause_ commotions. You _are_ one."

She grinned at the reminder of her words from the day they rescued the Lion cub together. "So I am," she assented. Then, taking one last quick look around, she added, "And this commotion is off to wreak havoc somewhere else. I've done enough damage here for one day, I think."

He gave a short laugh of agreement. "They'll be talking about it for weeks at least."

"I hope so. It's so amusing to provide grist for the rumor mills of Oz." She paused, and seemed to grow almost wistful as she stated, "Well, I guess I'll see you around, then."

"I guess so," he agreed soberly. "Be careful out there." She nodded, and reached out to give his hand a quick farewell squeeze. Then she stepped towards the alley that led out to one of the Emerald City streets. And as Fiyero watched her walk away, he realized something, as plain as day: he couldn't lose her again. He took a couple of steps forward and called after her, "Elphaba, wait!"

She stopped and turned back to face him, an expectant look on her face. "Yeah?"

At first he wasn't sure exactly what he would say, what excuse he would give for keeping her here with him a moment longer. But then, before his brain had even processed the words, a sentence came out of his mouth. "Let me come with you."

She stared at him incredulously, as though she could not comprehend that such a request could have come from him of all people. "_What?_"

"Let me come with you," he repeated, more sure of himself now. Suddenly he realized that, underneath it all, this was what he had wanted to say the whole time. "I can help you. I want to fight against the Wizard, to actually _do_ something instead of just sitting around here biding my time." For some reason that he couldn't explain, he didn't feel completely comfortable adding his main motivation: _I just want to be near you._

"Fiyero, have you lost your mind?" she frowned. "The life I lead isn't something you can just… walk away from whenever you decide you don't like it anymore! It's not just some glamorous, epic, romanticized, idealistic protest!"

"If I wanted glamour, I wouldn't currently be trying to leave the palace," Fiyero pointed out rationally.

"But… why in Oz would you want what _I_ have? Why would you give up everything you've got here to… to come with _me_?"

"Elphaba, believe it or not, there are some things in life I care about more than my own comfort."

She raised an eyebrow. "All right, who are you, and what have you done with Fiyero?"

"I'm being completely serious here!" he protested. "I'm sick of living like… well, like a prince, when people all over Oz are in poverty. I'm sick of being powerless to stop it when my men slaughter groups of innocent Animals." He looked her right in the eye as he finished, "And I'm sick of letting the Wizard blame an innocent woman for the problems he himself is causing."

"All right. Supposing all of that's true," she finally conceded, her voice full of uncertainty. "How are you going to explain your desertion to everyone?" She gestured to the motionless soldiers, reminding him that he was, in fact, Captain of the Guard.

Fiyero considered this problem for a moment or two before offering, "Let them think you kidnapped me. No offense, but they'll believe it of you. They'll think you're just out for revenge against the man who's been in charge of hunting for you."

Elphaba blinked in surprise, and gave him a look that, coming from anyone else, he might have called impressed. "All right," she allowed slowly. "_They_ might buy that. But what about Glinda? Even as blonde as she is, she's not so dense that she'd believe it."

"Glinda can think whatever she wants. I don't care," he insisted as earnestly as he could, trying desperately to make her see that he was telling the truth. "She doesn't matter to me anymore… well, not like _that_, anyway. She never really did."

She stared at him for a few long moments, studying his face intently, before finally realizing, "Sweet Oz… you _are_ being serious, aren't you?"

"For what might be the first time in my life."

"Well… I don't know… I mean, what if – "

"Elphaba, would you stop trying to think of every little thing that could possibly go wrong?"

"Thinking of everything that could go wrong is precisely how I've managed to stay alive for so long, Fiyero," she frowned. "I plan ahead. I think things through."

"Where's the fun in that? You have to be spontaneous sometimes!"

"I tried making a spur-of-the-moment decision once, and look where it's gotten me!"

He realized what she was talking about, and began to protest, "That was…"

"That was what?"

"Well… different."

"How so?" she demanded

"Well, that time, whatever choice you made, you couldn't win. It was either leave behind everything you knew to fight the Wizard, or give up all your principles. You did the only thing you could."

She had been about to say something, but his words stopped her, and she gave him a slightly annoyed look. "You're making this very difficult. I promised myself I wasn't going to drag you into this with me. Any of you." She paused, and when she spoke again, her resolve not to let him come was clearly weakening. "But you know, I think you're the first person who's ever really understood how bad it was…" There was indecision in her voice, and something else… could it have been… longing?

Whatever it was, it drew him towards her, and he took her free hand lightly in his. "I'm not the Wizard, Elphaba," he reminded her gently. "I'm not even on his side. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know," she nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. They looked at each other in silence for a moment before she asked, "Fiyero… are you _absolutely certain_ this is what you want?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," he promised, meaning every word.

"If you come with me now, there's no backing out. You won't be able to just decide one day that you'd rather be back here at the palace with Glinda."

"I know. And I'd never decide that, anyway. I don't ever want to see this place again as long as the Wizard's in charge." _And besides, I'd much rather be with you,_ he added silently. He would have given a lot to be able to say as much to her out loud, but he knew it would only scare her away, so he kept the thought to himself.

She gave him another searching look, and finally nodded slowly. "Maybe I've lost my mind, too, but I believe you." At last she conceded, "All right. But only if you're sure..."

"I'm sure. Come on, let's get out of here."

Her only response was to smile at him, but that smile told him everything. In spite of everything she had said to the contrary, she really _did_ want him with her. She was glad he was coming, and she didn't care now if he knew it. He couldn't help but smile back.

Elphaba held out her broom and showed him how to sit on it. Then she got on in front of him. "Hold on tight," she warned over her shoulder. "It's time to defy gravity…" Then she kicked off from the ground, and they soared up into the clear blue sky. Fiyero's last thought before the world fell away below them was, _It's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights…_

**xXxXx**

**Hope you enjoyed! And by the way, time is running out on my create-an-Animal offer. So far, only ONE person has given me an Animal and name to use. You can still contribute – just leave me a review or PM and tell me what type of Animal and what its name is, and I will include it. **

**I am going out of town tomorrow until Wednesday or Thursday, so don't expect any updates until New Year's Eve-ish. Until then, hope everyone is enjoying their holidays!**


	5. Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

**A/N: Okay, you can all feel free to throw virtual rocks/vegetables/whatever at me for being such a horrendible authoress and not updating for a MONTH, especially after I said my next update would be out by New Years! But this chapter's extra long, so I hope you'll forgive me… pweaze? .: pleading puppy dog eyes :. **

**Anyways, I know I told some of you that this chapter was going to be Glinda-based… well, guess what? It's not! The part of my brain that allows me to write Glinda POV has apparently gone dormant, so I've switched up the order of the plot slightly. But never fear, Glinda fans, your favorite bubbly blonde good witch will be making an appearance shortly!**

**I realize this is just kind of a filler chapter, with nothing terribly plot-relevant going on, but I needed to introduce a new character, and I was also feeling the need to write some subtle Fiyeraba. Can't resist the Fiyeraba fluff – it's addictive, I tell you! So… yeah. The next chapter – which WILL be the Glinda one – will get the plot moving again. In the meantime, enjoy!**

**Otherwise, I don't think I included anything that's not my own invention, other than the title and the line in the chapter that it comes from, but if you recognize it, chances are it's not mine.**

**Disclaimer:**

**At first I was polite. Then I threatened and begged **

**So hard that you wouldn't believe.**

**I fumed and I cursed, but alas, didn't work –**

**Still belongs to Greg, Winnie, and Steve.**

**xXxXx**

Fiyero and Elphaba landed on the western face of a large hill and alighted from the broom. "We have to walk from here," she told him, moving towards a rather sketchy imitation of something like a path.

He followed close behind her, looking down at the land spread out below them. Soon he realized in surprise, "That's the Vinkus down there! I recognize the terrain. We must be in the Great Kells."

Elphaba nodded, and gave him a smile that was only slightly patronizing. "They don't call me the Wicked Witch of the West because they like the alliteration."

Fiyero had grown up in the Vinkus, the westernmost province of Oz, but he had been raised in the open grasslands. He had not had much experience with the Great Kells, and the feeling of utter isolation was making him a bit uneasy. But Elphaba seemed to know exactly where she was going, and he trusted her, so he suppressed his fears and pressed on in her wake. As they followed the path deeper into the system of hills, strange rock formations loomed up on either side of them, casting eerie shadows. A slight, involuntary shudder ran down his spine, and he hurried to catch up to Elphaba, who was striding along nonchalantly as though she traversed practically nonexistent paths through creepy hills every day of her life.

"So… are there any wild animals around here?" he asked, trying without much success to make the question sound casual.

She glanced back over her shoulder. "No, not really. They're mostly Animals up here now."

"Animals?" he echoed in surprise.

"This has been my pet project – pardon the pun – since I disappeared," she informed him, and he could hear the pride in her voice. "I found a system of caves in the hills, and figured they'd make a perfect place for Animals to come and take refuge from the Wizard's laws. I started with just a few stray Dogs and Cats that I found, and after that they started showing up in droves. Almost no one comes into this part of the Kells, so they can roam a bit, and the caves give them a place to hide whenever the occasional random farmer or traveler comes along. "

Fiyero couldn't help being impressed. "So you really _have_ been fighting back."

"Well, trying to, anyway," she replied with a modest shrug. Her pace finally slowed, and she reached out to grab his arm. "We're almost there now. Stay close to me. A lot of the Animals are really suspicious because of how they've been treated; sometimes when they see a human they don't know, they can tend to get a little… hasty…"

"Elphaba, exactly what kinds of Animals are we talking here?" he wondered, a bit unnerved by the way she had trailed off.

"Oh, there are a few Dogs and Cats, like I said. And some Wolves and other forest-type creatures. But mainly it's Animals that don't have the option of blending in out in society. You know… like Lions and Tigers and Bears."

"Oh, my…"

As he spoke, Elphaba stopped moving altogether. He noticed that she was looking at a spot a few yards away, so he followed her gaze, but all he could see was a largish, unmoving lump leaning against a boulder a bit up the path from where they stood.

"Honestly, she is so lazy," the green girl grumbled, casting her eyes briefly upwards. "I tell her to guard the place, and what does she do? She decides it's time for an afternoon nap!"

"What are you talking about? I don't see anyone…"

With a shake of her head, Elphaba stepped forward. "What's this? Lying down on the job? You are absolutely hopeless!"

The lump stirred, and a yellowish eye cracked open towards one end. "Leave me alone, child, can't you see I'm dreadfully busy?" a low voice growled.

"Busy doing _what?_"

"Napping."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure taking a nap is a _most_ demanding activity," snapped Elphaba. "I suppose that explains why you aren't guarding the camp like I told you to?"

"I'm not as young as I used to be. I need my rest," the lump returned haughtily.

"Maybe you're right. I mean, any beauty sleep one can get around here is helpful." Elphaba smirked and looked the lump up and down its length as she added, "And _you_ need it more than most…"

"Look who's talking about beauty! One of these days that tongue of yours is going to get you in a lot of trouble, little witch," warned the lump, sounding very superior.

"And one of these days _yours_ is going to provoke someone to make a rug out of you."

At this, the lump finally moved from the position it had been in the entire time. It sat up and then got onto all fours, and Fiyero got the shock of his life. The Animal that Elphaba had been verbally sparring with was a Bear! A huge, shaggy female Bear, who had now fixed the green girl with a baleful look. He was getting more than a little nervous now – visions of them being attacked were running through his head, and he wished that Elphaba would take a little more care when choosing her words – but Elphaba stood her ground, glaring right back at the Animal. The two engaged in this silent battle for several clock-ticks. Then Elphaba crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows, as if to say, _I could do this all day_, and the Bear quietly began to chuckle. "Well, well," she rumbled merrily, "so you've returned."

Elphaba relaxed her stern expression and began to laugh as well. "You always seem surprised to see me."

"And you always seem surprised that I'm surprised," remarked the Bear. "I can't help thinking that one of these days I'm going to hear about you being captured and killed."

"You worry too much, Braeyn. I've told you, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Thus far, anyway."

"Have I ever given you cause to doubt it?"

"Do you really want me to answer that, child?"

"Not particularly, no." Elphaba rolled her eyes good-naturedly and stepped forward to wrap her arms around the Bear's neck in a quick hug. "I know you worry about me, Braeyn, and I appreciate it. I really do. But you've got to trust me. I know what I'm doing."

"Well, if you say so." Then the enormous creature suddenly seemed to notice him, and its yellow eyes narrowed. Fiyero got the unsettling feeling that he ought to be running for his life right about now. "In that case, would you care to explain what in Oz's name you were thinking bringing one of the _Wizard's bloody soldiers_ here?"

"Calm down," urged Elphaba quickly. "He's not really a soldier. This is Fiyero." She gave her Animal friend a significant look, as though Braeyn ought to understand what she meant by the name.

And apparently Braeyn _did_ know what she meant, because her anger seemed to dissipate. "Ah. So this is him, then?" When Elphaba nodded, the Bear padded over on all fours and began to circle him, making him extremely uncomfortable. At last she snorted, which was apparently her signal of approval, and commented matter-of-factly to Elphaba, "Well, he may wear the uniform of a soldier, but he doesn't wear the heart of one."

"As I've told you all along," agreed Elphaba, sounding eager to be finished with the conversation. "If anyone comes looking for him, I've kidnapped him. Now, if you'll excuse us…" She made a move as though to brush past the Bear and continue down the path.

But Braeyn lumbered over to block her way, moving far more quickly than her size should have allowed. "Wait just a clock-tick, little witch. I smell blood on you… _your own_ blood. You're hurt." It was not a question, but a statement of fact.

Elphaba stiffened. "Braeyn, I'm _fine_…"

"What happened?"

"Nothing!"

"Do not lie to me, child."

The green girl grumbled and protested like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, but in the end she very reluctantly admitted, "I got caught, all right? Is that what you want to hear? They dragged me down to the dungeon and started whipping me. But Fiyero showed up and ran them off before anything _really_ bad happened. End of story."

"Is it really?" wondered the Bear with a cunning look.

"That's _all_," insisted Elphaba, determinedly ignoring Fiyero's look. "Now let us by!"

Braeyn regarded her skeptically, but finally relented. "Very well. If you don't want to tell me, that's your business. But when it comes back to bite you in the tail and there's no one there to help you, don't come crying to me."

"Don't worry, I won't." Seizing the opportunity to make her escape, Elphaba took him firmly by the hand, and the next thing he knew, they were past the Bear, continuing their way up the path. "I swear, she's the mother I never had," Elphaba told him. "I really do appreciate her concern for me, but sometimes it gets so bad I'm afraid she's going to smother me! And _don't_ you tell me you're glad _someone's_ showing concern for my well-being, since I obviously don't."

Wondering how in Oz she had known what he was about to say, Fiyero sensibly shut his mouth briefly before changing the subject. "You've told her about me?"

Elphaba's cheeks immediately began to glow a darker green. If he hadn't known better, he would have sworn she was blushing. "Well, of course! I've told Braeyn about everyone – you, Glinda, Boq, Nessa, Father, Morrible, the Wizard. She knows all about Shiz and how I ended up here."

"How did you meet her?"

"I was wandering around one day not long after I left the Emerald City, and I found some soldiers harassing her and her two cubs. I got so angry that my powers acted up, and Braeyn and the cubs were able to get away. She's considered me an honorary member of her family ever since."

They came around a bend in the path, and Fiyero could see where it ended in a small grove of trees a short distance away. Tucked into the side of the hill, just where the path ended and the trees began, was a small cabin, and it was towards this that they seemed to be heading. A few more minutes of walking brought them to the door of the building. Elphaba swung it open and made a motion for him to go ahead of her before following him inside.

"Well, this is it," she told him, leaning her broom in the corner by the door. "Home sweet home." Her cape went onto a hook that hung nearby, followed by her satchel and her hat. "I came across it not long after I left. I was flying and got blown off-course by a freak downdraft, and I happened to land practically on top of this cabin."

He looked around, impressed. The little house was much tidier and more comfortable than one might guess from seeing the outside. Much of the furniture, he surmised, could have already been here when she found the place, but he could distinctly see Elphaba's touch all over – in the way things were arranged, in the styles and colors of the few decorations, even in the pile of books that was stacked next to one of two large armchairs by the fireplace. Matching curtains of a pretty pale blue fabric adorned all the windows – a decidedly Glinda-esque touch, he thought to himself with a silent chuckle, and wondered if perhaps the blonde had rubbed off on Elphaba more than any of them had realized.

"Make yourself at home," she directed with a gesture towards the table that sat in the kitchen area of the main room. After lighting a fire in the fireplace, she began foraging around in several small cupboards, setting out various items of food, and in a surprisingly short amount of time they were sitting down to a supper of sorts. They caught up as they ate, telling each other what they had been up to for the past several years. Fiyero told her stories of the rest of the time he, Glinda, and the others had spent at Shiz after she left, and she laughed and asked question after question, but underneath her seeming nonchalance he could sense a current of wishing that things could have been different, that she could have been there with them to experience these moments firsthand instead of having to hear about them long after the fact. She wouldn't tell him much about herself; she insisted that it was because there was really nothing to tell, but he knew that was just the kind of person she was. In order to feel at ease, she needed to have part of herself held in reserve, part of herself that she didn't share with anyone. And he was all right with that, if it got her to let him stay. If that was the price he had to pay to be with her, then so be it.

By the time they finished dinner, the last rays of the sun had faded, and through the windows the stars were becoming visible. Elphaba quickly cleared the table, and then excused herself briefly and vanished through a doorway into what he assumed must be her bedroom. She reappeared a few minutes later, now barefoot and wrapped in a cozy-looking robe beneath which he could see the bottoms of a pair of baggy pajama pants, which it did not surprise him in the least to note were black. She went over and settled herself in the armchair next to the stack of books, picked up the volume on top of the pile, and began to read. For a moment he contemplated feeling ignored, but then decided against it. This was apparently her routine, and if he tried to get her to break it against her will she would very likely throw him out. So he merely followed her over and took a seat in the other armchair. She looked up briefly from her book and smiled at him, but other than that she hardly seemed to register his presence. He knew better than to try and interrupt her while she was reading, so instead he used the lack of conversation as an opportunity to study her.

Her profile as she looked down at the book balanced on the arm of the chair was the same as he remembered it – high forehead, finely arched eyebrows, straight elegant nose, firm chin, lips pursed in concentration. The firelight flickered on her hand as she turned a page, and he had a fleeting desire to reach out and take that slender green hand in his to see if it still felt as soft and warm as he remembered it from the day they rescued the Lion cub together. Her curtain of long black hair had been confined into a practical braid, the wire-rimmed glasses she had used to wear were perched on the bridge of her nose, and suddenly he didn't see the Wicked Witch of the West (though he never had), or even the woman she'd grown into since running away to fight against the Wizard. All he could see when he looked at her was the girl he had known back at Shiz – idealistic, fiery Elphaba, with a keen sense of justice and a dream of making Oz a better place. That was all she had ever wanted to do, really. It wasn't fair in the least that she was hated, feared, rejected just because she wanted to make things right…

"What do you want, Fiyero?" she asked suddenly.

Startled out of his thoughts, he had no time to come up with a coherent reply. "Huh?" he blurted, and then mentally kicked himself for sounding like the idiot he was. She still seemed to be absorbed in her book – how had she even noticed him watching her?

"You're staring," she pointed out, still not looking up from her book. She sounded suspiciously as though she were laughing to herself.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be."

"It's fine. It's not like I'm not used to it."

"I'm sorry you have to be used to it."

At this she glanced up at him, looking mildly surprised. "Don't be. It's not your fault. At least you have the grace to apologize, unlike the rest of the world." Apparently this line of conversation was making her uncomfortable, because she shifted restlessly in her armchair and changed the subject. "Did you want something or not?"

"Not really," he admitted. "I was just remembering the first time I met you."

"What, at the Oz Dust Ballroom?" Elphaba laughed, and finally closed her book to focus her full attention on him. "How did you happen to dredge up _that_ particular memory?"

"I don't know. I was just thinking…"

"Are you feeling all right?"

"Shocking, I know," he quipped, deciding to be amused rather than offended by the remark. "But yes, I'm fine." He paused for a moment before offering, "You know, that seems like an incredibly long time ago now."

"Almost like another lifetime," she agreed quietly. "You know, Glinda and I weren't even friends yet back then. She gave me that hat and told me I should wear it to the party. I didn't think she was clever enough to come up with something like that as a joke. It wasn't until I walked into the party and everyone started laughing at me that I realized she'd tricked me."

"That hat was the first thing I noticed about you. I'd never seen anything like it before, but somehow… I don't know, it just seemed to fit you. And the way you ignored everyone and just came on in and started dancing all by yourself… I knew right then that you weren't like any of the other girls. No one I had ever known would have done that. My whole life up until that night had been about appearances. It was refreshing to meet someone who didn't give a twig what anyone else thought of her."

"Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't say anything about…" She trailed off, and concentrated on lacing and unlacing her fingers in her lap.

Fiyero knew what she was getting at, but decided to play dumb. "About what?" he prompted.

"About my skin," she elaborated, giving him a slightly annoyed look that she had had to spell it out for him.

He gave a careless shrug of his shoulders. "What about it?"

"I don't know. You tell me. You were talking about what you thought the first time you saw me, and you didn't mention my green skin once. Surely you had to have had _some_ initial reaction to it. Come on, you can tell me. I guarantee you it won't be nearly as bad as some of the comments I've gotten."

"Honestly, Elphaba, it wasn't really that big of a deal. I noticed it, sure, but it had nothing to do with my impression of you as a person. To tell the truth, it… it intrigued me. _You_ intrigued me. You still do. I had never met a girl before that I couldn't read like a book."

She shot him an arch look. "You read books back then?"

He smirked at that. "Well, you know what I meant. You were like a puzzle just begging to be solved. And you interested me even more because I've never been one for puzzles, but for some reason… I wanted to figure you out."

Elphaba seemed rather taken aback by this admission, but then she smiled slightly. "You know, you intrigued me, too. I didn't understand why at first. I had always made it a point never to care about boys, and if I had, I would never have even given someone like you a second glance. No offense, of course."

"None taken," he assured her, hiding his smile.

"Do you want to know what I think it was that first caught my attention about you?"

"What?"

"The way you said my name." At his surprised look, she was quick to elaborate, "Glinda called me Elphie. Nessa called me Fabala or Sister. The teachers and the other students – when they spoke to me – all called me Miss Elphaba. But to you I was just Elphaba. No silly nicknames, no pretentious titles. Nothing more or less than me. And I don't know why, but for some reason that meant a lot."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

For a moment there was silence, and they simply looked at each other. He noticed that a few wisps of her dark hair had worked themselves free from her braid, falling loose to frame her face. Before he could wonder what he was doing, he found himself reaching out in a reaction that felt as natural as breathing to tuck them carefully behind her ear. And now here was that feeling again, the feeling from the day with the Lion cub. It was uncomfortable in a way, but also sort of… well, exciting – like the thrill he'd used to get from skipping class, only better. He was really beginning to wonder what it was. He'd never felt this with any other girl before – what made Elphaba so different from any of them? Well, besides the obvious, he added to himself, and nearly smirked. But in all honesty, it was really starting to puzzle him. He'd better figure it out soon, before he _really_ had to start thinking…

This time it was Elphaba who broke the moment by standing and stretching. She yawned widely, and he couldn't tell if it was real or if she was only faking it because she was uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken.

"It's getting late," she observed, perhaps a bit too casually.

"Is it?" he asked blandly, doing his best to hide his own unease. "I hadn't noticed."

"Well, it's not really, I guess," she amended, "but I don't usually stay up too late. It's not like I have much else to do in the evenings, after all. Feel free to stay up as long as you like, just make sure the fire's out before you go to sleep. There's another bed in the room next to mine; there's a pillow already in there, and sheets are in the bottom drawer of the dresser. All right, then, fresh dreams, I guess. See you tomorrow." And she disappeared into her bedroom, closing the door behind her, before a slightly bemused Fiyero had a chance to tell her that he didn't actually know how to make up a bed.

**xXxXx**

**So, there you go – chapter four! Thank you to all who have submitted ideas for Animal characters! The offer is still open if you haven't participated yet and you want to. Until next chapter, then!**


	6. A Change in the Weather

**A/N: Back with installment number five! A personal record for me – I don't believe I've ever stuck with any of my other chapter fics for so long. Well, except "Defying Gravity," but that one was hardly any work at all. I mean, the plot and the dialogue were basically already written for me!**

**Anyways… .: squirms uncomfortably :. This chapter is honestly not my favorite thing I've ever written. I don't write from Glinda's POV very often, and I've never even attempted to get inside Morrible's twisted mind before, so I don't really know if I got the characterizations right. But hey, you gotta give a girl credit for at least trying, right? Um… right… Anyways, please let me know how I did, and any constructive criticism or suggestions you can give will be greatly appreciated. Now, on to the Glinda-centric chapter I promised you all!**

**Disclaimer:**

**Went to Greg, Steve, and Winnie and offered to buy it,**

**But no matter how much I pled,**

**Not one of them would sell, so I said, "Go to hell!"**

**And went off to write fanfics instead.**

**xXxXx**

Glinda paced the throne room anxiously. She felt terrible about letting Fiyero just run off like that and not doing anything to try and stop him. But it wasn't as though there were anything she really _could_ have done, she reflected defensively – she had had to stay there on the platform for what had felt like an eternity after he left, waving and smiling and assuring all of Oz how happy she was. After all, her first duty was to her people… wasn't it?

Glinda nearly gave an ironic smile at the thought. The shallow, self-absorbed girl who had started at Shiz University nearly five years ago now – she had been Galinda then, not Glinda – would never have considered putting others before herself. But that had been before she met her unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe roommate. Her association with Elphaba Thropp had changed her forever, although she hadn't realized it at the time. The green girl had completely revolutionized Glinda's dim perception of the world, opening the blonde's naïve eyes to see things she had never known about before meeting her.

For instance, if she had never met Elphie, the life she was currently living would have thrilled her. It was everything she had ever dreamed of since she was a tiny little thing toddling around up in Gillikin (in designer baby booties, of course!). But because of her green friend, Glinda had not been taken in quite so easily by the glitter and sparkle of palace life as she led everyone to believe. She silently thanked Elphie a hundred times a day for waking her sluggish mind up to understand, however dimly, a little of what was going on around her. Because now she could see how the Wizard and Morrible cruelly manipulated people and events for the sole purpose of benefiting themselves.

It sickened the blonde that she had to allow them to use her for their own selfish ends, but she firmly reminded herself once again that it was for the greater good of Oz. If they trusted her, if they believed that she was still as shallow and empty-headed as she had once been, then eventually she could use the influence they themselves were giving her to expose them for the frauds they were. That was Glinda's plan – to make good with the citizens of Oz, get them all on her side, and then, once they all believed in her, to show the nation at large who the truly wicked ones were. It was devious and sneaky, most unlike her – in fact, it was a strategy that could sooner have been attributed to her verdant former roommate.

She found herself thinking a lot more like Elphie these days. Often the well-remembered voice would materialize out of thin air to whisper in her ear, giving sarcastic but well-meant commentary or suggesting what action to take in this situation or that. Sometimes she longed to tell it to leave her alone and let her get on with her life, but she knew she didn't really mean it. No, as a matter of fact, Glinda rather liked having the reminder of her vanished friend. Elphie had changed her forever; whether for good or for ill, she had yet to discover, but she decided that it was a discovery she was more than willing to make.

But where _had_ Fiyero gotten to? Glinda had never been able to take too much introspection in one sitting. It left her all jumbled and moodified. Her mind constantly flitted from thought to thought, and now it lighted back on the reason why she was here in the throne room in the first place. It was the last place in the palace that she hadn't looked for her fiancée, and she was starting to get worried. His reaction to her little surprise this afternoon hadn't been everything she had hoped for. Oh, he had put on a happy face for the crowds, and maybe even for her, but inside she could tell that he was anything but. She needed to find him and make sure that he wasn't really upset with her for springing this on him so suddenly…

Just then, two voices that she unfortunately knew very well interrupted her wonderings.

"…Not my fault!" Madam Morrible was protesting as she and the Wizard entered the throne room. "I warned you not to underestimate her! You've seen what she can do!"

Glinda cocked a perfectly groomed eyebrow in interest. Who was this unknown woman they were discussing, and what had she done to invite their wrath? The argument was so heated that neither one had yet registered her presence, and, recognizing an opportunity when she saw one, the blonde realized that she might be able to hear more if she kept silent and still.

"But you somehow neglected to inform me of the fact that she can control her powers without the book!" the Wizard shot back.

"It's not as if I knew!" countered Morrible defensively. "Doing magic by sheer force of will takes immense power and practice! Not even _I_ am fully capable of that level of sorcery, and you know how long and hard I've worked!"

The Wizard gave a long sigh. "Well, then, it appears we may both have underestimated our Miss Elphaba."

"Indeed."

An electric thrill shot through Glinda at hearing her best friend's name. And suddenly she put two and two together, and the quarrel between Morrible and the Wizard made perfect sense. She ought to have seen it sooner, really. "Elphie was here?" she gasped, realizing too late that in her excitement she had spoken the question aloud. Both of the older adults turned quickly at the unexpected interruption, and pasted on smiles that even Glinda could see were almost pathetically false.

"Oh, Glinda, dear," trilled Madam Morrible, making a great show of being glad to see her. But Glinda knew by now that it was only an act. "I didn't realize you were in here."

_Obviously,_ the blonde thought sarcastically, hiding a most uncharacteristic smirk at the distinctly Elphie-esque response that had popped into her head, and wishing that she had the courage to speak it aloud. But Glinda wasn't quite _that_ audacious – as much as she hated being the Wizard and Morrible's pretty little front woman, good for nothing except putting a better face on whatever unsavory schemes they concocted, she _did_ value her personal safety and security (and a hot bath every night before bed) – and so she bit back the sharp retort and merely nodded before repeating, "Elphie was here?"

After casting a significant glance at Madam Morrible, the Wizard finally nodded. "She was."

"Well, where is she?" the blonde demanded, trying to keep the impatience out of her voice.

"Gone," answered the Wizard simply. At Glinda's crestfallen expression, he hurried over to drape a comforting arm around her shoulders. "There, there, my dear girl. I know how much she meant to you. But… she's very different now, Glinda. You would hardly know her. You wouldn't want to meet her now; it would only cause you more pain to see how much she's changed since you last saw her."

_That's complete and utter nonsense, and you know it, Glin,_ hissed Elphie's voice in her ear. _No one can change that completely in so short a time. Don't listen to him._ Glinda nodded at her friend's silent advice, though to the two watching her it merely looked like she was accepting the Wizard's consolation. Looking pleased at his apparent success in placating her, he removed his arm from her shoulders and disappeared to fiddle with something in the mechanical workings of his giant head.

Now Morrible swooped over, all motherly affection. "Was there something you needed, dearie?" she asked sweetly.

Remembering her original purpose for coming into the throne room, Glinda straightened up and nodded again. "Yes. I'm looking for Fiyero. I haven't seen him since he left the party, and I was getting worried. Do you know where he is?"

**xXxXx**

Madam Morrible tensed inwardly at the question from the obnoxiously perky blonde in front of her. No matter how she broke this news, Glinda was sure to be devastrated that her betrothed had apparently vanished without a trace. But Morrible prided herself on her ability to work any situation out to her own benfication. Perhaps there was some way she could use the boy's disappearance in her quest to undermine the blonde's loyalty to the ever-problematic Miss Elphaba. Yes… something was coming to her… Morrible fought to hide her malicious grin as an idea took shape in her twisted imagination.

Affecting a sympathetic expression, Morrible laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Glinda, dear… I'm afraid he's gone, too."

The blonde blinked in surprise, as though she couldn't quite make the words register in her brain. "He… _what?_"

"We have been looking for him as well – there was a matter that the Wizard wanted to discuss with him – but unfortunately, he seems to have disappeared."

"Oh, I _knew_ the surprise engagement party was a bad idea!" wailed Glinda. "He must have left because he was upset with me!"

"There, there, dearie," Morrible said quickly, seeing that the blonde was on the verge of a hysterical, tearful breakdown. She was _not_ in the mood to deal with Glinda's dramatics right now. "It's highly unlikely that our little festivation had anything to do with Fiyero leaving." She lowered her voice as she finished, "We have reason to suspect that his departure may not have been exactly voluntary…"

"What do you mean?" Glinda asked, swallowing her tears.

Morrible looked Glinda in the eye, fighting back a wicked smile. "Well, I find it an extremely unlikely coincidence that your handsome swain was last seen guarding the Wicked Witch just before she made the attack that allowed her to escape."

A slight frown creased the blonde's forehead. "Surely… surely you're not suggesting that _Elphie_ had something to do with this?"

"It's like the Wizard said, dear," Morrible shrugged. "She's changed quite a lot since the two of you last met."

"But… Elphie would never do anything to hurt Fiyero! If what you're saying is true and he really left with her, it would have to mean that he did it by his own choice." The blonde gave a short, dismissive laugh at that idea. "And why in Oz would he have gone with her willingly?"

"You're right, Glinda," conceded the older woman. "She would hardly be physically strong enough to make Fiyero do anything by sheer force. And, as you said, why would he have willingly left everything he has here to go with her?" After an artfully-timed pause, she added, "But of course, there's always the possibility that…"

Glinda took the bait. "That what?"

"That she persuaded him by… other means."

"Other means? What are you talking about?"

"Magic, my dear. Sorcery."

Glinda's eyes widened. "You're saying that Elphie somehow used magic to make him go with her?"

"Well, how else could she have done it? If he was thinking clearly, he would never have left a beautiful fiancée and a life of luxury behind to become a fugitive with the Wicked Witch of the West." Then she paused, and furrowed her brow in mock concern. "Of course, there's only one kind of spell that could possibly have been strong enough to overcome his devotion to you, my dear."

"What kind of spell is that?" the blonde wondered desperately.

_And now to deliver the coup de grace,_ Morrible thought proudly, struggling not to laugh out loud. Glinda was so incredibly easy to manipulate! She had the blonde girl hanging on her every word. All that remained was to plant a small idea in the back of Glinda's mind and let it take root. She grinned triumphantly to herself as she answered, "A love spell."

Glinda backed away a step or two, shaking her head in frantic disbelief. "No! That's impossible! Elphie would _never_ do something so dreadful!"

"I told you, Glinda dear, she's changed drastically since she ran away. It makes perfect sense, really. Explains everything. Just think about it." After laying a motherly hand on the blonde's shoulder, Morrible swept off with a confident smile to continue her discussion with the Wizard, knowing that her work was done. The web of lies she had just woven would soon catch Glinda in its sticky threads.

**xXxXx**

Glinda's mind reeled from what Morrible had just told her. It couldn't really be true… could it? Had her green friend really changed so much that she would do something so devious and low? _Pull yourself together, girl!_ she chided herself harshly. _This is Morrible we're talking about – she lies far more than she tells the truth. She's trying to turn you against Elphie._

But then a nasty, nagging little voice inside her head whispered, _But what if this time Morrible is telling the truth? She lies so much, you never know…_

_That's absurd! I know Elphie; she would never do something like this. Not ever in a million years. She'd be appalled._

_Would she? How well do you really know her, Glinda?_

_Well… I guess we weren't friends for very long before she left…_

_Exactly. You don't honestly know what she would or wouldn't do if she got desperate enough._

_But that doesn't mean she'd do something like this!_

_Ask her, then,_ advised the unknown voice in an obnoxiously knowing tone.

_Fine, I will!_ Glinda frowned and posed a mental question to her absent former roommate. _Elphie, you didn't cast any love spell on Fiyero to make him leave with you, did you?_ Usually when the blonde spoke to her, the imaginary Elphie didn't hesitate to answer. But this time the green girl's voice was uncharacteristically quiet. _Did you?_ Glinda repeated, her friend's silence beginning to unnerve her. _Elphie? Elphie! Elphaba Thropp, you answer me this instant!_ But there was still no reply.

If Elphie was innocent, then why wasn't she leaping to her own defense against Glinda's accusing mind?

Unless… The blonde nearly gasped aloud as a truly horrifying thought struck her. _What if Elphie wasn't innocent?_

Sweet Oz, could Morrible actually be telling the truth for once?

The Wizard had apparently noticed her dismay, for he came back over to her. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small green bottle made of glass, half-full of some liquid. "Here, have a swig of this," he offered gently, holding it out to her. "It dulls the pain."

As Glinda studied the little glass bottle, she suddenly got the uncomfortable feeling that she'd seen it, or one just like it, somewhere before… somewhere that she should remember very well… But her poor brain was still too much in shock to connect the pieces of this particular puzzle. The most she could manage at the moment was to shake her head in refusal of the Wizard's offer. "No, thank you," she mumbled faintly.

As she began to let herself believe the possibility, as slim as it seemed, that Elphie really _had_ become what they all believed her to be, Glinda felt something that she very rarely felt: a scorching, red-hot anger. _How could she do this to me?_ she asked herself repeatedly. _How could she?_ The blonde had forgotten for the moment that Elphie was her best friend. All she could think was that the green girl had done something bad to Fiyero. And so help her Oz, best friend or not, Glinda was going to make her sorry for it.

She realized then that Morrible and the Wizard were still talking. It seemed as though they had simply forgotten that she was there. "So once again we've failed to capture her," Morrible was grousing.

"Quite so," agreed the Wizard, sounding very frustrated. "And considering how well she eluded us last time..."

Morrible's expression twisted into a determined frown that did not improve her appearance in the least, in Glinda's personal opinion. "We must flush her out. Force her to show herself."

"But how?" the Wizard wondered to himself.

The room was silent for a moment as all of its occupants fell deep into their own thoughts (well, in two out of the three cases, anyway). Then something happened that was a rare occurrence indeed.

Glinda got an idea.

The sensation was so sudden and so shocking that before she could register what she was doing, she had spoken her epiphany out loud. "Her sister." She said it so quietly that the other two looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What? What did she say?" Morrible asked the Wizard, peering at Glinda with a puzzled expression.

"Use her sister," Glinda repeated more forcefully. There was no backing out now – they were both regarding her with great interest, waiting to hear what she meant – so she continued, "Spread a rumor. Make her think her sister is in trouble and she will fly to her side... and you'll have her."

The Wizard's eyes began to glitter, and he cast a cunning look at Madam Morrible. "Exactly so."

Glinda's conscience was already pricking her uncomfortably. _What were you thinking?_ it demanded, sounding terribly disappointed in her. _You just betrayed your best friend! _

_Well, she betrayed me first!_ she countered stubbornly. But still, she couldn't help feeling the slightest bit guilty. Seeing that the two older adults were watching her, she gave them a painfully polite smile that felt forced even to her. "Now, if your Ozness will excuse me, I have a slight headache. I think I'll lie down." And without waiting for permission, Glinda picked up the wide, heavy skirts of her pale blue ballgown and swept regally out of the throne room.

**xXxXx**

Morrible was elated with the success of her plan. Not only had Glinda bought the lie she had fed her, but she had even given them a new way that they might possibly be able to capture Elphaba. And surprisingly enough, it had been a good idea, too! It was absurdly simple – so simple, in fact, that Morrible wondered why in Oz she hadn't thought of the same thing herself ages ago – but sometimes one simple, surefire plan was more useful than all the convoluted schemes in the world.

But just because the new idea was simple, that didn't mean that it didn't still have a few flaws to be corrected. When Glinda was gone, Morrible approached the Wizard, thinking aloud as she did. "Yes, well...a rumor won't do it. Elphaba's too smart for that."

"Yes. Far too smart," the man agreed pensively.

Then Morrible was hit with a second inspiration. Two brilliant plans in one day – she really ought to write a book. She looked up at a window high in one wall of the throne room, and allowed one corner of her mouth to turn up in a smirk. "Perhaps a change in the weather…" She made a theatrical gesture with her arms, releasing a burst of magic in a silent spell.

In the distance, thunder began to rumble.


	7. Something Not So Bad

**A/N: Behold, an update! I was having major writer's block with this chapter for the longest time. But I FINALLY got my laptop back yesterday (I sent it off two weeks ago because it was having issues… yeah…), and I was so excited that this chapter practically wrote itself!**

**We'll say this one begins a few days after where chapter four, "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!" (chapter five in the pulldown chapter list) left off. Yeah. There isn't really much plot-relevant stuff in this chapter, but I introduced another new character – though he's not really _new_ per se – and I also had several people suggest that I bring in a certain one of the characters from Wicked who sort of disappears partway through Act II, so that's in here too. And the end of the chapter contains a very surprising revelation for Fiyero… although it will come as no shock to anyone else who reads it… ;D**

**Oh, and Midnight the Cat and Grace and Fly the foxes were characters created by people who responded to my offer to make up an Animal.**

**Disclaimer: Do you have to rub it in? We all know it's not mine!**

**xXxXx**

Fiyero rolled over and groaned, squinting reproachfully at the bright rays of early morning sunlight that were streaming through the window and somehow managing to land right in his eyes. He tugged the covers over his head in one last-ditch attempt to pretend to himself that he wasn't awake yet, but it was no use. With a resigned sigh, he tossed back the blankets and sat up, holding up one hand to shield his eyes from the persistent attacks of the sunbeams.

"Dammit, Elphaba, why couldn't you have put up curtains in here?" he muttered to himself.

"Well, good morning to you, too," smirked Elphaba from the doorway.

Not having been expecting a response, he jumped, and turned to scowl halfheartedly at her. "How can you be so blasted _awake_ this early?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she teased, and came over to pull him to his feet. "Come on, there's someone I want you to meet."

"Oh, really? Who?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

"It's too early for surprises. Just tell me, would you?"

But Elphaba shook her head, determined to have her fun. "If you want to find out who it is, you've got to come outside. I'll give you five minutes, and then I'm coming back to drag you out there myself. And I'm not going to be nice about it." And before he could protest, she had disappeared as suddenly as she had come, shutting his door behind her.

When she was gone, Fiyero rolled his eyes and tried to think of a plausible excuse to go back to bed. But he gave it up after just a few clock-ticks, knowing that Elphaba wouldn't hesitate to follow through on her threat. Heaving a deep sigh, he regretfully pulled up the covers on his bed and went in search of his shoes.

He reported outside exactly five minutes later, still stifling an occasional yawn, to find Elphaba deep in conversation with some sort of Animal. Its back was to him, so he couldn't tell for sure, but he thought it might have been a Lion.

Assuming that this Lion was the someone she wanted to introduce him to, he walked toward them. "All right, I'm here," he started to say.

At the unexpected sound of a new voice, the Lion started and gave a yelp of fright before scurrying to hide behind Elphaba. "Oh, come out, you overgrown pussycat, he's not going to hurt you," she chided it good-naturedly.

"How do you know?" whimpered the Animal, peeking out from behind her to stare fearfully at Fiyero.

"He's a good friend of mine. In fact, the two of you already know each other."

"What?" Both Fiyero and the Lion shot Elphaba confused looks.

"Yes, you've met before," she maintained. "Although you might not recognize each other now. It's been a few years, after all."

"I've never seen him before," the Lion insisted. Now that Elphaba had assured him it was safe, he crept back out and stationed himself at her side.

"Elphaba, where in Oz would I have met a Lion?" asked Fiyero, a bit annoyed at being expected to solve a riddle at this ungodly hour of the morning. "I can only think of one time I've even _seen_ a Lion, and that was that day in history class back at Shiz, when you and I rescued that cub – " And then it hit him. His eyes widened, and he looked from the green girl to the Lion and back in surprise. "You mean he… that's…"

"Exactly." Elphaba grinned at his stunned reaction. "I told you you'd want to meet him. This is Saryan. Saryan, this is Fiyero."

The Lion cautiously came forward and studied Fiyero closely, looking puzzled. Then his face cleared. "You're the one who helped Elphaba rescue me from that awful cage!" he realized delightedly. "Well, that's a Horse of a different color! I'm very glad to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Fiyero replied, still not quite able to grasp that he was actually talking to the Lion cub he and Elphaba had saved.

"There, you see, Saryan? Nothing to be afraid of," said Elphaba to the Lion, as though reinforcing a point she had been trying to prove earlier.

"I wasn't afraid."

"Right. That's why you were cowering behind me."

"I wasn't cowering! I was just being… _cautious_."

The green girl laughed and shook her head. "Nothing important has ever been accomplished by being cautious."

"And nobody brave ever outlived a coward, either," Saryan shot back. "It's a proven fact that courage is hazardous to the health."

"You know how I hate it when you and Braeyn gang up on me like that," Elphaba warned, the corners of her mouth turning up.

"Well, somebody's got to watch your back," sniffed the Lion. "_You_ certainly don't bother to."

"That's because I'm too busy watching everyone else's."

Saryan shook his head with a heavy sigh and turned to look at Fiyero. "I'm glad you're here. Maybe with three of us telling her to be careful she'll actually listen."

"You really think so?" Fiyero asked, giving him a skeptical look.

"Not really. But hey, I can wish."

"Now Saryan," Elphaba smiled sweetly, "what would you do with yourself if you didn't have me to worry about constantly?"

"Oh, I don't know. Probably have a lot less stress and a longer life expectancy," Saryan quipped.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "All right, all right, point taken."

"So you'll stop trying to give me heart attacks by nearly getting yourself killed?"

"Of course not."

The Lion turned to Fiyero and lamented, "See? She never listens!"

Fiyero raised an eyebrow. "And you're only just now figuring this out?"

"Well, I see you two are going to get along just fine," Elphaba remarked dryly.

The three talked for a little while longer before Saryan said that he had some things to see to – namely breakfast – and wandered off. When he was gone, Elphaba turned to Fiyero. "So, was the surprise worth getting up early?" she asked in a faintly teasing tone.

"That _was_ pretty amazing," he had to concede. "I can hardly believe it – I mean, I've wondered a thousand times how that little cub was doing, if we really helped it by just setting it loose like we did. But I never thought I'd actually find out. We really did make a difference."

"Yeah, we did," she agreed with a small smile. "Rescuing that cub was one of the few things I've managed to do right."

"It was true what I told you at the train station, you know. The day you and Glinda left for the Emerald City."

"What was true?"

"When I said I thought about that day a lot. I did." After a moment he added, "I still do."

Quietly, she admitted, "Me too."

"I'm still curious as to why I was the only one your powers didn't affect," he told her.

"Believe me, if I ever figure out an answer to that one, I'll let you know." She paused and took a step closer to him. "I can still see where the cub scratched you," she observed, sounding mildly surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah. There's a very faint scar…" She hesitated for a moment, then came even closer and very slowly, almost shyly, reached up to touch his cheek, letting her fingertips rest lightly on the place she was talking about. "…right here…"

And suddenly there they were, in an almost perfect mirror image of the day they had rescued young Saryan – except this time she let her hand linger on his cheek, and he didn't pull away from her touch. Oddly enough, the still-unnamed feeling that had made them both so uncomfortable around each other that day years ago now seemed to be making them reluctant to separate. Wondering what in Oz had gotten into him, Fiyero carefully slipped an arm around her waist and drew her close, curious as to what her reaction would be. This was truly a day for surprises, because instead of pulling away, as he had expected her to, Elphaba rested her free hand tentatively on his shoulder. They were mere inches apart now, and she was looking up at him, her dark eyes alight with something that he didn't quite recognize, but which made his heart beat faster. Completely out of nowhere it occurred to him how easy it would be to just lean down and brush his lips against hers…

The sound of a set of small paws rapidly approaching put a swift end to _that_ notion. He relaxed his hold on her with no small amount of regret, and she quickly stepped away from him, her cheeks flushing a darker green. Not two seconds later, a black Cat sprinted up to them, clearly in possession of news that it was eager to share.

"What is it, Midnight?" asked Elphaba, kneeling down to be closer to the Cat's eye level.

Midnight took a moment to catch her breath before reporting, "Grace and Fly were out making the usual rounds this morning, and they found another Animal!... Or at least, they _think_ he's an Animal…"

The green girl frowned slightly. "They 'think' he's an Animal?"

"Well, he's wearing clothes, and he seems to understand them… but he's apparently lost the ability to speak," explained the Cat. Her voice grew quieter and sad as she finished the sentence, and Fiyero saw the fleeting look of pain that crossed Elphaba's face.

"Where are they?" she wondered as she got to her feet.

"They'll be here any minute now."

Sure enough, before Midnight had finished speaking, three figures came into view, just rounding the final bend in the path that led up to Elphaba's cabin. Two Animals that might have been foxes (it was hard to tell from this distance) were leading a third creature much larger than themselves, presumably the one they had found. As the trio approached, Fiyero could make out that the newcomer was a Goat.

_Wait a clock-tick…_

The revelation must have hit Elphaba too, because she gasped at the same moment he did, "Doctor Dillamond?!"

xXxXx

Fiyero knew how passionate Elphaba could get about the things that were important to her. But he didn't think he'd ever seen her so furious as she was now. She was practically shaking with rage, even as she did her very best to be gentle while trying to assess what all was wrong with their former professor. She spent the rest of that day on a more-or-less continuous tirade against the Wizard and his policies against Animals, which Fiyero knew better than to try and interrupt. Finally, after they had eaten supper, she abruptly stopped speaking and collapsed into one of the two armchairs.

"I'm sorry," she apologized wearily, propping her elbow on the arm of the chair and resting her chin in her hand. "I shouldn't have made you listen to all that."

"Elphaba, if I didn't want to listen to you, I wouldn't be here," he reminded her. He sat down next to her in the other armchair and took her hand.

She looked over at him with a faint smile and experimentally laced her fingers through his. "I know. And I appreciate it, Fiyero. I really do."

He smiled back, and the two of them sat in silence for a minute or two, during which Fiyero decided that he very much liked the feeling of simply having her hand in his, of knowing she was there. Then a question occurred to him, and he voiced it aloud. "I wonder where Doctor Dillamond's been all this time?"

"That's hardly a mystery." She sat up, and the fierce expression she'd had earlier returned. "The Wizard had him locked up in a cage in his throne room with all the winged monkeys."

"What? How do you know?"

"Because I'm the one who found him and let him out."

"Oh, this I have to hear!"

"It was the day you and I ran into each other down in the dungeon, actually," Elphaba recalled. "The day of your and Glinda's engagement ball. I had snuck into the throne room to try and figure out a way to make the Wizard clear my name. He caught me, though, and he was trying to get me to come back and work for him." Her gaze drifted to the floor, and she sounded almost ashamed as she admitted, "He almost had me for a little while. I told him I'd do it, but only if he set the monkeys free. So he opened the cage and they all flew out, except one that was curled up under a blanket. I went and pulled the blanket off to see what was wrong with it. And it was Doctor Dillamond. Of course, then I got angry, and the Wizard called his guards, which is how I ended up in the little predicament that you were kind enough to get me out of. I guess Doctor Dillamond must've gotten spooked by the Wizard's giant head shouting and run off."

"But why didn't they chase after him?" wondered Fiyero.

She shrugged. "He'd already lost the ability to speak. He wasn't a threat to the Wizard anymore."

"Do you think you'll be able to help him?"

"I don't know for sure yet. It all depends on how long it's been since he stopped speaking and how he lost the ability – whether they simply beat him into submission, or whether they used a spell of some sort to interfere with his mind. But I'm going to do all I can."

xXxXx

Starting first thing the next morning, Elphaba worked with Doctor Dillamond every day, using a combination of simple patience and care and a very minimal amount of magic. She was frustrated at first by her lack of success, but after a few days spent among free Animals, the environment started to have a positive effect on the Goat. He seemed to realize that he would no longer be punished for speaking out. He still had yet to actually speak, but Elphaba seemed encouraged.

Finally, a week or so after they had begun, he made the breakthrough the green girl had been hoping for. It started with a single word; then two; three; a handful. And once it started, it was as though the floodgates had been opened. Soon Dr. Dillamond was forming simple sentences, then longer ones, and by that afternoon he was once again the learned history professor they had known at Shiz. It hardly seemed possible that it could have been so easy, but the proof was right in front of them.

Later that day, Fiyero stood with Braeyn, watching from a distance as Elphaba and Doctor Dillamond conversed.

"I haven't seen her this happy in a very long time," the Bear observed.

Fiyero nodded. "Dr. Dillamond was her favorite professor at Shiz. She never really got over what happened to him. You know, it seems sort of fitting that she's the one who gets to help him now."

"No… no, I don't think it has anything to do with Doctor Dillamond," contradicted Braeyn, turning her head to give Fiyero a searching look. "It started when she came back here with you. Ever since then, except for a few select incidents, she's been in a perpetually good mood. I've even heard her humming a few times. Elphaba doesn't hum unless she's _very_ happy."

"And you think it's because of me?"

"Well, what else could it be? She'd never admit as much, and she'd probably be very upset with me if she knew I told you this, but she's always talked about you more than any of the other people she left behind, except maybe her friend Glinda."

"Really?" he asked, giving the Bear a surprised look.

"Yes. Now, you and Elphaba are the only two people I've ever met that have been worth getting to know, so I certainly can't claim to be an expert on human feelings. But knowing her like I do, I can tell that she likes you, Fiyero. She trusts you. She enjoys being with you. She wouldn't have brought you here if she didn't."

"All right…"

"Whenever she talks about you, she gets this… look in her eyes that she doesn't get when she's talking about anyone or anything else. And you get the very same expression in _your_ eyes when you're watching her – don't try to deny it, I've seen it for myself. Like I said, I'm no expert on human feelings, but I'd have to be blind and deaf not to recognize what I see between you two."

"Well, would you like to clue me in to whatever it is you see?" requested Fiyero, glad to find someone at last who might be able to give him an explanation for the strange feeling that had been puzzling him for the longest time. "Because I've been trying to figure out what it is since the day Elphaba and I rescued Saryan when he was a cub."

Braeyn stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Oh, this is too much!" she chuckled.

"What's so funny?" he demanded rather indignantly.

"Nothing, child, nothing. It's just… well, it's so obvious! The only ones who can't see it are the two of you yourselves!"

"_What's_ obvious? _What_ can't we see that everyone else can?"

Braeyn chuckled once more and shook her head, then looked him dead in the eye as she stated matter-of-factly, "Fiyero, you and Elphaba are so head-over-heels in love with each other that neither of you can tell up from down." And with that she lumbered off, leaving a completely astounded Fiyero to ponder this startling revelation.

**xXxXx**

**MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!! XD Chapter seven will include "As Long As You're Mine." The more reviews I get, the sooner you all get the aforementioned chapter seven. Enough said.**


	8. The Wicked Witch of the East

**A/N: So, not nearly as much time between updates as usual. Yay me! **

**This chapter used to go up through ALAYM, but that made it WAY too long. So I decided to split it up into two shorter chapters, which were posted at the same time. Yeah, it pretty much turned this chapter into filler, but you all still get your ALAYM in this round of updating like I promised – don't yell at me for throwing in an extra chapter before you get to it!**

**Some brief points (PLEASE READ!)…**

**- Loki the Wolf is another Animal character created by one of my greatly-appreciated reviewers. (All my reviewers are greatly appreciated, so come be one of them – the virtual dessert of your choice awaits you if you do:D ) **

**- Sorry for the rather lengthy Elphaba monologue towards the beginning, but she's telling a story, and I just couldn't see a good way or reason to break it up.**

**- Not as much witty banter in this chapter as the first six. There probably won't be as much in the rest of the story either. But in this chapter they're actually having a serious conversation, and I felt that snarkiness would detract from that. **

**- Sorry also for the random POV change towards the end of the chapter. The rest of the story, except for a few parts here and there, will probably be from Elphaba's POV, and this seemed as good a place as any to switch over.**

**Finally, I also apologize for this incredibly lengthy A/N. LOL.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Wicked, I wouldn't be a pathetically obsessed authoress who gets her kicks writing fan fiction about it.**

**xXxXx**

"There have been some disturbing rumors out of Munchkinland recently," reported a Wolf named Loki anxiously one afternoon a few days later.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Rumors?" she echoed. "What sorts of rumors?"

"Well, some Animals are saying that persecution has increased alarmingly there in the past few weeks."

"And you've confirmed this?"

"I'm afraid it's true. Multiple highly reliable sources all say the same thing."

Elphaba's surprised expression deepened into a frown. "All right. I'll see if I can find out what's happening. Thank you, Loki."

The Wolf inclined his head in a brief gesture of acknowledgement and loped off. When he was gone, Elphaba began to pace.

"What's going on?" Fiyero asked her. Whatever it was, he was sure she would have a better idea than he did.

But to his surprise, she shook her head. "I don't know," she admitted reluctantly, clearly frustrated by the fact. "We almost never have any problems in Munchkinland. It's always been one of the more accepting provinces towards Animals. I can't think of any reason why – " And suddenly she froze, one hand flying to her mouth. "Sweet Oz… Nessa…"

Fiyero's eyebrows shot up. "Nessa? As in… your sister?"

"She's the Governor of Munchkinland now," Elphaba nodded her confirmation. "Oh, she wouldn't have… she couldn't…"

"Elphaba, what are you talking about? What in Oz's name is going on?"

"It's Nessa. She's trying to punish me."

"Punish you? For what?"

"Boq…"

"What does Boq have to do with any of this? And what happened that involved you, Nessa, and Boq that would make your sister angry enough to do something like this?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

She was silent for a moment, and then she drew a deep breath and began. "Well… before I came to the Emerald City a few weeks ago, I decided to go back to Munchkinland for a little visit to my family. After all, there's no place like home, right? I wanted to ask my father to take a stand with me against the Wizard's unfair laws. The first person I ran into when I got there was Nessa. At first I thought it would be better that way. My sister's almost always on my side, and if I could just persuade her, I knew she could convince Father.

"But then she told me: Father's dead, and she's the Governor now. And when I asked if _she_ would help me, she just… blew up. 'You fly around Oz trying to rescue Animals you've never even met,' she said, 'and not once have you ever thought to use your powers to rescue _me_!' And I realized… she was absolutely right. Then I got an idea. She had on these shoes, these spectacular silver shoes that Father gave her on our first day at Shiz, and I cast a spell on them that would let her walk when she was wearing them."

"Did it work?" wondered Fiyero.

"Yes, it did." Elphaba smiled slightly as she recalled, "I've never seen Nessa so thrilled. I think, at that moment, she would have forgiven me everything – leaving her alone at Shiz, never thinking to use my magic to help her… maybe even making her the way she is in the first place. And I was just ecstatic that for once, I'd found a use for my powers where they couldn't do anyone any harm, only good. But I was wrong, Fiyero… so very wrong…

"Of course, the first thing Nessa did was to yell for Boq. I guess she kept him around as a servant or something. I didn't have time to get out of sight before he came in, and when he saw me he started yelling at me to get out. But then Nessa showed him that she could walk, and explained what I had done, and he calmed down. He asked Nessa, since she obviously wouldn't need him nearly so much anymore, if he could leave her and go to Glinda's engagement ball to express his feelings to her one more time before it was too late. He'd lost his heart to Glinda the moment he saw her, he said.

"Nessa exploded. Before I could do anything, she grabbed the Grimmerie and started reciting the first spell she saw. I tried to stop her, but the next thing I knew, Boq was screaming that his heart was shrinking, and Nessa was blaming it all on me and begging me to fix it. Well, spells are irreversible, so I did the only thing I could: I cast another one. The only one I could find that might save his life. A way to make it so he wouldn't need a heart anymore. And it worked. But it… it turned him into metal. A man made out of tin. I left before Nessa found out, because I knew she'd never understand. And now she's out to make me pay for what I did."

"So let me get this straight," Fiyero said carefully when she was finished. "Nessa's angry at you because you turned Boq into a Tin Man to save him from a spell _she_ cast?"

"That about covers it, yeah."

"It seems to me she ought to be _thanking_ you rather than _blaming_ you. I mean, you saved his life!"

Elphaba shrugged. "Well, my dear sister has always had a rather hard time taking responsibility for anything. And I highly doubt that either of them sees what I did as saving him."

"But that still doesn't make it right for her to go around mistreating the Animals in Munchkinland just to get back at you for something you didn't even do!" he protested.

"Did I ever say it did?" She paused, and her features composed themselves into a mask of determination. "I do believe I'm going to have to go back and have another little chat with Nessa…"

He recognized the expression on her face now – it was the same one she'd had just before everything went haywire in history class that day with the Lion cub – and he knew it boded little good for her sister. He certainly didn't approve of Nessa's actions, at least, if Elphaba was to be believed, and she was. But he also knew that deep down, the green girl didn't really want to harm her sister. If she went to confront Nessa in the mood she was currently in, Elphaba would undoubtedly end up doing something she'd deeply regret later. And Fiyero felt that it was up to him to make sure that didn't happen. She had far too many regrets already, and he had no intention of letting her add any more to her list, not if he could help it. So he did the only thing he could do.

"I'm coming with you."

Her eyebrows shot up. "What? No!"

"Why not?" he demanded.

"This is between my sister and me. I'm not going to get you involved. I mean… what if she tried to get to me by hurting you?"

"Nessa wouldn't do that."

"You don't know how my sister gets when she's angry."

Fiyero was pleased that she'd practically stated aloud that someone hurting him would upset her, but he refused to back down. "I'm not letting you go alone. For all you know, this could be a trap."

"Which is all the more reason why you should stay here where it's safe."

"So you want me to stay here because it's safer, but you're perfectly fine with throwing yourself headlong into the same exact danger you're telling me to avoid? I don't think so."

"You can't always protect me, Fiyero," she reminded him gently. Then, after a pause, she added, "No matter how much I like it that you want to."

Encouraged by this admission, he moved closer to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Elphaba, I know you can take care of yourself. That's not really what I'm worried about."

"Then what _are_ you worried about?"

"That you'll do something…" He paused, trying to think of a way to put what he was about to say tactfully. "Well, something less than smart. I know how you get when you've got a cause. You kind of go blind to everything else until you've seen it through to the end. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. But this time it's different. You can't afford to lose your head here, Elphaba. This is your sister we're talking about, the only family you've got left. I'm just afraid that if you do something to push her away, you'll regret it later. And I don't want you to go through that."

Elphaba blinked in surprise, and then, to his relief, gave him a slight smile. "Well… maybe you're right."

"But if you just let…" He paused as her words sunk in. "Wait – _what_ did you say?"

"I said, maybe you're right," she repeated, amused at the surprise in his voice. "I guess I do tend to be a little quick-tempered, don't I? And I don't always think before I act."

Pleasantly surprised that she was actually listening to him, he concluded reasonably, "Which is why I think things would go better if you have someone there with you to remind you to stay calm."

She nodded thoughtfully and fell silent for a few clock-ticks, considering his proposal. At last she seemed to reach a decision, and looked back up at him. "All right. You can come with me."

He gave her a suspicious look. "That was almost too easy."

"Every now and then I like to do something unexpected," she laughed. "And besides, traveling by myself gets boring. It'll be nice to have company for a change."

Fiyero wasn't really sure what to make of her sudden change of mind. He had expected her to put up a much bigger fight, and now that she had simply… _agreed_ to let him come, he didn't quite know what to say. He settled for, "Well… all right, then."

Elphaba looked very pleased that she had thrown him so completely for a loop. "Just let me get a few things together, and then we can go."

It wasn't until she had disappeared into the cabin that he allowed himself to acknowledge the other reason he wanted to go with her. He'd been doing a lot of thinking since Braeyn's blunt statement a few days earlier, and he'd realized that the Bear had been absolutely right – about him being in love with Elphaba, anyway. But now he was more desperate than he would have imagined to find out if there was even the slightest chance that she felt the same about him. Also, he wondered what the green girl would do if he told her what he had realized. Would the confession scare her off? Would she laugh in his face? Or would her reaction perhaps be something else that he couldn't even guess at the moment? He intended to use this trip to get answers to his questions, one way or the other.

**xXxXx**

Elphaba tried to pretend to herself as she threw some food and other various items into her satchel that she wasn't as flustered as she felt. She had no idea what in Oz had possessed her to say that Fiyero could come with her to confront Nessa.

No idea whatsoever. Right. _Just keep telling yourself that, Elphaba,_ she thought sarcastically.

In reality, of course, she had more than just an idea of what had made her agree to let him come along. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt. In fact, she had known since the day the two of them had rescued Saryan. She had fought it then, tried to ignore it, pretended it didn't exist, mainly because of Glinda. After she had become the Wicked Witch of the West, it had simply ceased to matter. She'd never expected to see him again. But now, having him here with her – well, it was getting harder by the day to keep her feelings secret. And she was afraid that if she didn't do something soon, the truth was going to come out whether she wanted it to or not.

Or maybe… maybe _that_ was it. Maybe, deep down, she _wanted_ Fiyero to know how she really felt about him. Maybe this was her subconscious mind's way of forcing her hand. Maybe it had prompted her to put herself in a position where she would be completely alone with him in hopes that it would eventually drive her to settle the matter once and for all.

That possibility terrified her more than anything.

This train of thought was making her supremely uncomfortable. So, rather than dwelling on her feelings for Fiyero, she settled for thinking about Fiyero himself. He'd been acting awfully strange the past few days – ever since the day she had finally gotten Doctor Dillamond to speak again, now that she thought about it. He seemed unusually nervous around her (at least for him), and she kept catching him staring at her when he obviously thought she couldn't see him. Not that people staring at her was anything new or different, of course. But this staring wasn't the kind of staring Elphaba was used to. There was an expression in his eyes when he looked at her now that she couldn't read, one that she had never seen before from anyone, and it was really puzzling her. She spent the rest of the time it took to pack trying to figure out what it could be, but she came to no definite conclusions. Oh, well. Maybe she'd have a chance on this trip to get him to tell her what was going on.

**xXxXx**

**As mentioned previously, reviews shall be rewarded with the virtual dessert of your choice.**

**You are now free to move on and read the ALAYM chapter. It's already posted, I swear! I kept my promise! See, there's another chapter after this one in the little pull-down list thingy! .:points:. **


	9. Just For This Moment

**A/N: Finally, the (hopefully) long-awaited ALAYM chapter! You lucky people get two chapters at the same time! You should count yourselves fortunate that I wasn't feeling particularly wicked today, or else I would have made you wait even longer. .:cackles:.**

**Some of the dialogue at the end of the chapter is directly from the script (I'm sure you'll figure out which dialogue I'm talking about) because I'm incurably lazy like that, but other than that I really tried to stay away from the actual song lyrics. But it's still full of fluffy Fiyeraba goodness, so I hope it meets your expectations.**

**Some brief points (PLEASE READ!)…**

**Again, not as much witty banter in this chapter as the first six. But, also again, they're actually having a serious conversation, and I felt that snarkiness would detract from that. And from now on, since they're officially a couple as of this chapter, Elphaba won't feel the need to keep Fiyero away with sarcasm any more. But that only applies to him, so don't worry, her trademark biting wit will return!**

**The end of this chapter is where the AU-ness starts to kick in. It's not huge – yet – but this is where things begin to take a completely different turn from the original plot of the musical. So be prepared. (Heh, random "Lion King" moment…)**

**And now, to put you in the mood for the chapter, a special disclaimer. Feel free to sing along; I'm sure you can figure out the tune.**

**Disclaimer: Just for this moment, I'll pretend Wicked's mine! I'll write how I want to, and see how bright I shine! Borrow the characters 'till the story is through, and hope that I get good reviews… as long as it's mine!**

**xXxXx**

They left the Animal hideout on Elphaba's broom, and flew for the rest of the day. Neither of them spoke much – it was rather difficult to have a conversation while flying without the wind forcing the words back down your throat. As the sun set behind them, she began looking for somewhere for them to camp for the night. She didn't want to risk flying at night and missing their destination, and besides, they both needed their rest.

They were currently flying over the northern border of the Great Gillikin Forest, and she guided the broom skillfully down to land right at the edge of the trees. They dismounted and trekked into the forest a little ways before finding a small clearing that they decided would serve their purpose well enough. While Fiyero concentrated on getting a small fire going for warmth and light, Elphaba dug into her satchel and brought out some of the food she had packed. It didn't take them long to finish their meal, and when they were done, they remained sitting next to each other by the fire.

"So, have you thought about what you're going to say to your sister?" Fiyero asked.

Elphaba shook her head. "Not really. And I doubt it'll matter much anyway. If she's as angry as I think she is, chances are she won't listen to me."

"You never know," he pointed out, trying to be helpful. "She might surprise you."

"I know. That's why I have to try – because no matter how unlikely it is, I just can't forget about the very small possibility that I might be able to make her see reason." She let out a heavy sigh and smiled bitterly. "You know, my life would be a whole lot easier if I could learn to stop chasing false hope."

"But you don't _know_ that it's false."

"Fiyero, my sister has never forgiven me for disappearing like I did. The way she sees it, I abandoned her for my own selfish purposes. Plus I turned the man she loves into metal. She's absolutely furious with me. And Nessa can hold a grudge longer than anyone I've ever met. Including me."

"You really enjoy being a pessimist, don't you?"

She shot him a brief glare. "I'm not being a pessimist. I'm being realistic."

"Elphaba, you don't always have to assume that something's going to go wrong."

"Yes, I do!"

"Why?"

"Because something always _does_, Fiyero! Not one single thing in my entire life has _ever_ turned out the way I would've chosen!" She gave him an acidic smile. "This may come as something of a shock to you, but not everyone is as lucky as you are. We can't all afford to treat life like one big party."

The instant the words were out of her mouth, Elphaba wished she could take them back. She could see by the expression on his face that the comment had stung him. _For the love of Oz, will I ever learn to just keep my mouth shut?_

"I'd hoped you would've seen by now that I'm not like that anymore," he said quietly after a moment, sounding hurt.

"Fiyero… I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I don't know why I said it." She buried her face in her hands, mentally kicking herself for lashing out at the one person she had from her past who was still on her side. "This is pathetic. I'm so used to pushing people away – to people pushing _me_ away – I don't even know if I remember how to trust anyone anymore."

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see him regarding her with an expression that for some reason sparked an odd, fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I don't think you've forgotten how. Maybe you just need someone to remind you."

The possible implications of his last statement both thrilled and unnerved her. Surely… surely he hadn't meant that _he_ wanted to be the person who reminded her how to trust? That he wanted her to be able to trust _him?_ For a moment, in her surprise, her brown eyes locked with his sapphire blue ones; what she read in them caused her to give a slight, involuntary shiver, and she looked away.

Fiyero must have noticed her faint movement, because he slipped an arm around her shoulders. The gesture was cautious, as though he was afraid she would pull away. But, although she had always hated being touched unexpectedly, she found to her surprise that pulling away was the last thing on her mind. In fact, she liked the feeling of having his arm around her. It made her feel safe, protected, and for her, that was saying quite a lot. Tentatively, she leaned her head on his shoulder and allowed herself to imagine just for a clock-tick or two that their relationship could be as simple and peaceful as this moment.

But then she remembered something that was still complicating the picture… or rather, some_one_. The one topic that neither of them had yet had the courage to bring up. In other words, a certain pink-loving blonde to whom Fiyero had, until recently, been engaged. This was not a subject that she felt comfortable discussing – she wasn't at all sure that she was going to like whatever she heard. However, she realized that it would have to be dealt with before anything else could happen between her and Fiyero. _Might as well get it over with,_ she told herself resignedly, and decided to be the one to break the ice.

"Fiyero, why did you decide to come with me that day at the palace?" she began, electing to approach the issue in a round-about way.

He gave her a puzzled look, but replied, "All I was doing in the palace was sitting around, waiting for I don't know what. I didn't want to waste my time like that anymore. I want to fight against the Wizard, to actually _do_ something to counteract what he's doing to Oz."

"You sound like you're reciting a lesson from a textbook," she observed as she sat up to look him in the eye. "Don't just tell me what you think I want to hear. I want to know what _really_ made you leave everything you had behind."

"Elphaba, I was never really happy living that life. It wasn't as hard to leave as you might think," he told her, clearly at a loss as to what had prompted her curiosity.

"So you don't miss the luxury of the palace?" she persisted. "The wealth, the servants, the possessions?"

"None of that matters. Like I told you right before we left that day, whether you believe it or not, there _are_ things in life that I care about more than my own comfort."

"What about the fame? The power?"

"No one really cared about me as a person. It wasn't worth it."

"What about Glinda?"

Understanding dawned in Fiyero's eyes as he finally realized where her seemingly innocuous questions were headed. "Elphaba…"

"Answer my question," she ordered quietly, but in a tone that made it clear that she would not tolerate refusal.

"All right, all right." He paused and sighed heavily. "Glinda is... well, a very good friend."

"And…?"

"And that's all."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you two were engaged."

"I did. But I also said that I never actually asked her to marry me," he reminded her. "She just… assumed."

"That _does_ sound like Glinda," she conceded with a smirk.

"Look, don't get me wrong, I definitely care about her. But only as a friend, a sister. Nothing more. I'm not in love with her. I never was." He raked a hand back through his hair before admitting slowly, "I guess I've known that for a long time now."

"Since when?"

"Since the day I helped this amazing girl I know rescue a Lion cub from a cruel professor back at Shiz."

Elphaba could hardly believe her ears. Surely she was imagining things – how else could she explain the fact that she had just heard him call her amazing? She smiled nervously. "Exactly how many girls did you help rescue Lion cubs?"

"Only one," he replied quietly, completely serious. "And I've been in love with her ever since, even though I only realized it a few days ago."

Startled, she met his eyes. They showed nothing but complete and utter sincerity – and for some unexplainable reason, it terrified her. And yet she found that she had neither the strength nor the desire to look away. "You can't possibly be saying what I think you're saying," she managed.

"Elphaba, listen to me." He reached out and rested his hands on her shoulders, then slid them softly down her arms to take her hands. "You are the smartest, strongest, bravest, most compassionate, most _incredible_ person I've ever known. Everyone else is dull, flat, colorless compared to you." She raised an eyebrow at his inadvertent pun, and he smiled briefly before continuing, "_That's_ the real reason I came with you. You showed me things about myself and about the world that I never knew before I met you. You're the only person who's ever really understood me. And I realized after you left that I didn't want to be without you."

"Now I _know_ I'm dreaming," she said, shaking her head in amazed disbelief. Almost before she knew what she was doing, she moved closer to him and let him put his arms around her and draw her close. "That's the only time anyone has ever said something like that to me. And not even in my wildest dreams did I ever let myself imagine it would be _you_." She blushed at his questioning look and confessed timidly, "I fell in love with you that day, too. I just never let anyone see it because of you and Glinda."

"Elphaba," he asked, "have you ever once done something just because _you_ wanted to do it, without wondering or caring how it was going to affect anyone else?"

"I've always heard that called being selfish."

"Well, I guess that's true, generally speaking. But you're the least selfish person I know. You're always taking care of someone else – your sister, the Animals. I'd say you've more than earned the right to do something for yourself for a change. Don't worry about Glinda or anyone else. Just close your eyes and concentrate on what _you_ feel, what _you_ want."

His blue eyes were so intense that she couldn't refuse. It made her uneasy, but she wanted to trust him. Somehow she knew that she would never regret it. So she did as he had asked and waited anxiously for whatever would happen next.

He reached out and cupped her face in one hand, stroking her cheek with his thumb, and she hesitantly leaned into his touch. Her breath hitched in her throat as she felt his fingertips brush her lips and then move to trace lightly along the curve of her jaw.

"Elphaba," he asked softly, "do you have any idea how incredibly beautiful you are?"

Startled and rather frightened by the question, she opened her eyes to stare at him. "Please don't say that," she requested, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not true. You can't possibly believe it."

"It _is_ true, Elphaba, and not only _can_ I believe it, but I _do._ I'll prove it."

"How?"

"Like this."

Elphaba couldn't help the soft whimper of surprise that escaped her when Fiyero leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. This was insane; it couldn't possibly be real… but then why was it the single most _right_ sensation she had ever experienced? He was holding her as though she was something precious, something to be treasured, and the realization was too much for her. She began to respond despite her common sense's frantic warnings not to. She melted into him, allowing him to deepen the kiss as she lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. She had never felt anything like this before, these emotions that he was stirring up in her, and it both terrified and exhilarated her.

Fiyero pulled away after a moment. "Elphaba… I…"

"Shh. Don't." She pressed her fingertips gently to his lips to stop the flow of his words. They were silent for several clock-ticks, both too overwhelmed to speak. Then, at the same moment, as though by mutual agreement, they slowly leaned towards each other again. Their lips were barely a breath apart… when suddenly a thought occurred to Elphaba, and she drew back slightly, shifting her gaze to the ground near them.

"What is it?" he asked softly, his face mere centimeters from hers.

She shook her head quickly, a shy smile coming to her lips. She took his hands gently, and her eyes found his again. "It's just… for the first time… I feel… _wicked!_" she explained, the last word a mere whisper. And with that she grinned and pulled him down to cover her mouth with his once again.

Finally they pulled apart slightly. Elphaba was the first to speak. "Fiyero… do you really think I'm beautiful?"

He nodded, looking earnestly into her eyes. "Elphaba, there's not another woman in Oz who could possibly compare with you. Believe whatever you want, but I love everything about you. You're perfect to me exactly how you are. I wouldn't want you to be any other way."

He sounded so sincere. She wanted desperately to believe him, she really did. But after more than twenty years of hearing otherwise, something in her simply wouldn't allow her to fully accept his words. "You don't have to lie to me, you know," she said quietly, giving him a small, somewhat weary smile. She let the tone of her voice say the rest: _I'm tired of hearing things about myself that aren't true._

"It's not lying. It's…" He paused for a clock-tick, and then smiled and reached out to stroke her cheek as he finished, "It's looking at things another way. I don't care what anyone else says. If they can't – "

Suddenly, a bone-chilling sound reached her ears – a human scream, very faint, as though far off, but so bloodcurdling that it sent a shiver racing down her spine and raised goosebumps on her arms. She cut him off, a finger to her lips. "Shh! Do you hear that? It sounds like… like somebody's in pain…" She trailed off uneasily and peered into the distance, trying to discover where the unearthly sound could possibly have come from.

But Fiyero had apparently heard nothing, because he gave her a puzzled look. "It's just the wind," he hypothesized, catching her by the chin and starting to turn her face back towards him.

Elphaba took his hand and gently but firmly moved it away. And suddenly, just like that, without any warning – she knew what had made that god-awful noise. "No, my sister is in danger!" she told him with utter certainty, still staring anxiously out into the darkness.

"What? How do you know?"

"I don't know, I just do! Somehow I – " Her words trailed off as her eyes were abruptly drawn to something in the sky above them. The sight was so unexpected and so… so _wrong_ that she couldn't suppress a sharp gasp of surprise. "_Look!_"

Fiyero's voice was beginning to echo her own alarm. "Elphaba, what's wrong? What is it?"

"There! Don't you see it?" She was on her feet in an instant, stabbing her finger desperately at the empty midnight sky, pleading with him to believe her. How could he not see it? It was right there, plain as day!

"What do you mean? What do you see?" he demanded, standing up beside her and looking in the direction she was pointing. But try as he might, she could tell that he had no idea what in Oz it was that had her so upset. So she enlightened him.

"It doesn't make any sense! It's a house... but it's… it's _flying through the sky?!_ I have to go to Nessa!"

"I'll come with you," he offered immediately.

She loved that he trusted her enough to believe her even when he himself had no proof of what she was talking about. But she couldn't ask him to put himself in harm's way for her sake. "No, you mustn't, it's too dangerous!" she protested, shaking her head. She went to gather up her broom, hat, and satchel from where she had set them down earlier, all the while calculating mentally how soon she could reach the Governor's Mansion in Munchkinland.

"That's what you said about me coming with you to Munchkinland in the first place."

"That was different! This time there's definite danger. I'm not going to let you put yourself at risk."

Fiyero followed her and stopped her frantic movements, taking both her hands in his. "Elphaba, I don't know what it is that's got you so worked up, but I'm not letting you face it alone."

"But Fiyero – "

"I'm coming with you, and that's final. I can be stubborn too, you know."

She sighed and shook her head again, but this time she couldn't help smiling slightly. She laid her head on his shoulder, letting her palms slide down to rest flat against his chest, and he pulled her close. She basked in the sensation. "Oh, Fiyero, what am I going to do with you? You have no sense of caution at all!"

"Nothing important has ever been accomplished by being cautious," he smirked, reminding her of what she had told Saryan the day she had introduced Fiyero to him.

"It's hardly fair of you to use my own words against me," she complained, raising her head to frown good-naturedly at him.

"All's fair in love and war. So it _is_ fair, because I love you."

"Fiyero! How in Oz can I possibly argue with _that?_"

He grinned down at her. "You can't."

"Oh, you are positively _wicked_," she told him with a mock-glare before letting her expression relax into a smile and leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

"About as wicked as you are," he agreed teasingly.

She laughed lightly. "And I love you too. You know that, right?"

"I know." He cupped her cheek with his hand and bent down to press his lips briefly to hers. "Now, come on, let's go find this flying house of yours."

Elphaba nodded. "It went that way." She turned slightly to point, aware of how ridiculous she sounded making them chase after something that neither of them was even sure was real.

At that moment, a stiff breeze began to blow, setting Elphaba's skirt snapping around her legs and whipping Fiyero's hair about. "I don't like this wind," he said anxiously, holding her a little tighter.

"Neither do I," she agreed as she instinctively pressed closer to him. "It's just the right kind of weather for a…"

She hadn't even finished her sentence before they heard a tremendous rushing noise behind them. They turned to look…

"Cyclone!" they both cried.

**xXxXx**

**This chapter kicked my butt hard-core. Seriously. My creative energy is completely exhausted for the time being. I have never felt so drained after finishing a chapter. Hopefully this feeling is only temporary.**

**Please don't expect any updates for a while – possibly until the second week of May at the earliest, as I have about a month left of school, and several projects, huge papers, etc. to do in that time. .:mutters under breath:. Blasted end-of-semester crunch…**

**Reviews cause the authoress to break into loud and very embarrassing spontaneous renditions of her favorite Wicked songs, and may help to replenish her creative juices faster, possibly resulting in quicker updates.**


	10. There's A Couple of Things Get Lost

**A/N: There is nothing I can say that could possibly excuse the unacceptably long delay in updating. I could whine about writer's block, or how my new job has consumed literally every spare second of my free time (to the utter delight of my mother, I might add), but you've heard any excuse I could give a million times over. So I can only offer my deepest and most abject apologies and say that I hope the chapter is worth the wait I put you all through.**

**You may recognize some of the dialogue from the catfight scene from the musical (one of my favorites!), but, as with the ALAYM chapter, I really tried to keep it as original as possible. Hope you like!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. It owns me.**

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"_I don't like this wind," he said anxiously, holding her a little tighter._

"_Neither do I," she agreed as she instinctively pressed closer to him. "It's just the right kind of weather for a…"_

_She hadn't even finished her sentence before they heard a tremendous rushing noise behind them. They turned to look…_

"_Cyclone!" they both cried._

Knowing there was no time to lose, Fiyero and Elphaba pulled apart. He quickly doused the fire, and then the two of them grabbed everything they had brought with them and raced to find shelter. They spent a hellish few minutes huddled together in the lowest spot they could find, which was a dried-up creek bed, clinging to each other for dear life. But finally the twister passed overhead with a gigantic roar and was gone, moving eastward, and they were both still alive, in one piece, and together.

"That proves it," Elphaba declared firmly as they climbed out of the creek bed. "Something awfully strange is going on. I don't care if it's the middle of the night; we've got to leave _now_. We can't wait until morning."

Fiyero didn't argue, but simply nodded, for which she was grateful. They made their way out of the forest as quickly as they could, and then got on the broom and soared off in the direction the cyclone had taken. _Hold on, Nessa,_ she thought anxiously as they flew, fear and adrenaline combining to leave her as wide awake as she had ever been. _I'm coming…_

Shortly after dawn began to glow ahead of them, they found themselves flying over the farms and villages of Munchkinland at last. Off in the distance, they could see a throng of people collecting on the ground below. The crowd seemed to be gathering around some sort of building – a small farmhouse, from the looks of it – that appeared to have been literally dropped out of the sky. It had landed more or less on its foundation, but wasn't exactly level, as the bottom of one end of the house had apparently been driven into the ground by the force of the impact. The people of Munchkinland had never seen such a thing before, and were turning out in droves to investigate.

"I'm not going to say 'I told you so'…" Elphaba began with a self-satisfied smirk, glancing over her shoulder at Fiyero.

"I know, I know," he replied, rolling his eyes with a chuckle. "But you did."

"Exactly."

"From now on I'll believe you when you say you see houses flying through the sky."

"Thanks a lot." She surveyed the scene below them critically. "We've got to get down there. This has something to do with Nessa, I just know it."

"It might be better if we land a little farther from the house and walk," suggested Fiyero. "We've got a better chance of finding out what's going on if no one sees us right away."

"You're right." She began to guide the broom down towards the ground, searching for a secluded spot to land.

"That's twice in two days," he pointed out, teasing her.

She laughed and shot back, "Yes, well, don't get used to it."

"Very funny." He pretended to be hurt, but his tone assured her that he was only joking.

"I thought it was," she replied with an innocent shrug.

They landed well away from the mass of people and covered the rest of the distance on foot. Now that they were on the ground, they could hear that there was some sort of celebration going on. However, by the time they got close, the local citizenry was already beginning to disperse, having apparently seen their fill of the strange sight for the time being. Elphaba and Fiyero stayed hidden in the cornstalks near which the ill-fated structure had fallen, watching for an opportune moment to sneak over without being seen.

"So, Munchkinlanders really are tiny," Fiyero observed, peering after a group of them who were waving goodbye to someone on the other side of the house. "I thought that was just an old fairy tale."

"No, surprisingly, it's true," she confirmed. "Although all the important families married into height somewhere along the way."

"Which explains why all the students from Munchkinland that I knew at Shiz were normal-sized."

"That it does. But on the whole, yes, they're much shorter than the average person. And they're incredibly small-minded, too. They're like sheep – where one goes, the rest are bound to follow. They act like little kids a lot of the time, fighting over the stupidest things. And they scare so easily. Sometimes it makes you want to jump out and yell 'boo!' just to see their reactions." She grinned at the look he gave her. "Not that I would know, of course…"

"Of course."

Finally there was a lull in the steady stream of people leaving, and the two of them seized the moment to dart across the open space to the relative safety of the crashed house's shadow. Not until they were almost close enough to reach out and touch the worn boards of the walls did they notice the pair of human legs sticking casually out from beneath the wreckage. For a moment, all they could do was stare at their discovery, appalled.

"Well, someone's having a bad day," Fiyero quipped finally, trying to make light of the situation.

Elphaba, on the other hand, thought she might very well be sick right then and there. She felt all the blood drain from her face as one hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, sweet Oz… no…"

"Elphaba, what's wrong?"

"Nessa… we're too late…"

"Nessa?" he echoed, as though trying to make sense of what she was saying. "You can't mean that _that's_ – " He broke off and gestured to the legs. Elphaba could only nod rather numbly. "But how can you be sure?"

"Those stockings," she told him, her voice and her hand shaking as she pointed to the black and white stripes that clad the lifeless limbs. "I gave them to her as a sort of going-away present when we left home for Shiz. They were her favorites. That's Nessa, I'm sure of it. She's dead. My sister is dead…"

Saying the words aloud somehow brought it home to her that it really was her baby sister who was lying there squashed flat as a pancake underneath the wreckage of the house. One of the last links she had had to the slightly happier times in her past. Nessarose, her little Nessa, who used to ask Elphaba to sing her lullabies, who used to bring her little bouquets of wildflowers when their father would take the wheelchair-bound girl out for a walk, who used to sneak her older sister little presents now and then to try to make up for their father's obvious favoritism. And she realized that even though her sister could often be a royal pain, and even though she secretly resented all the love and attention the younger girl had gotten over the years that Elphaba never had, she really did love Nessa.

Suddenly she was hit by a grief too deep for words, and she bowed her head for a moment, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, fighting the urge to collapse next to her sister's body and cry herself dry. Grief was an emotion that Elphaba refused to allow herself to indulge in. There had been far too much in her life that warranted such sentiments, and if once she allowed herself to start feeling them, she would never stop. No, grief was far more productive when converted into anger. She could control anger; she could harness it; she could use it. Anger was a far more effective motivator than grief would ever be. So she channeled all her sorrow over her sister's death into a finely-controlled rage. When she finally looked up again, she knew her eyes were smoldering.

"So this is what they were all so happy about," she observed bitterly. "They're _glad_ she's dead." Then she ventured another glance at Nessa's remains, and noticed that, although she was wearing stockings, any sort of footwear was conspicuously absent. "The shoes… _where are her shoes?_ If those blasted Munchkins took them as some sort of perverted trophy, so help me…" The hand that wasn't around the handle of her broom clenched itself into a fist at her side. "I have to find out who did this."

"Elphaba – "

She turned to him, her dark eyes flashing fire. "I can't just sit back and let someone get away with murdering my sister!"

"I never said you should!" he assured her hastily, and laid a hand on her shoulder. "But we have to be careful. There are still people out there. They'll hear us."

As though to back up his argument, one of the voices on the other side of the house suddenly raised itself above the others. A voice that they both recognized instantly. They looked at each other in surprise. "_Glinda???_"

"What in Oz is _she_ doing here?" Elphaba frowned.

Fiyero shrugged helplessly. "I don't have any more idea than you do."

But her agile mind, with the help of her anger, had already made a connection. "My sister is murdered, and Glinda the Good appears on the scene as soon as she's dead. Maybe it's just me, but that hardly seems like a coincidence."

"Well, maybe not, but – "

"The only way for her to have gotten here so fast would be if she knew beforehand that it was going to happen!"

"Elphaba, I'm sure Glinda didn't – " he tried again.

"No, Glinda may not have been directly involved," she conceded, cutting him off once more, "but I'll tell you who was – the people whose puppet she is! It was the Wizard, Fiyero! The Wizard and Madam Morrible! They did this!"

"We don't have any proof of that… "

"Proof? We're talking about Morrible here, Fiyero – weather magic is her specialty! She's the one who caused that cyclone! They killed Nessa, and now they're going to pay!" Elphaba stepped over Nessa's legs and strode resolutely around the corner of the house, Fiyero right on her heels. They crept along the shorter side of the building until they reached the next corner and could peek around to see what was going on.

"That's right! You just take that one road the whole time!" Glinda was calling after someone who stood a short distance down the Yellow Brick Road. The figure turned at the blonde's words to give her and the remaining Munchkinlanders a final wave, and Elphaba and Fiyero got a good look at the person. It was a young girl, not more than ten or eleven, wearing a blue-and-white gingham pinafore, her brown hair tied back into two neat braids. She carried a small rectangular wicker basket hanging from the crook of one elbow, and with the other arm she held a small, black, furry creature that, from their vantage point, could have been a terrier or a rat. And on her feet…

A pair of sparkling jeweled crimson shoes, glinting in the early morning sunlight.

Elphaba stiffened in shock and grabbed Fiyero by the arm. "That little girl has Nessa's shoes!" she spat through clenched teeth, barely able to get the words out in her fury.

"Those are the shoes you told me about? The ones you enchanted so she could walk?"

"Yes! And that little brat stole them!" Then her gaze drifted back to Glinda, and her eyes narrowed. "And she had help."

Fiyero caught her by the wrist. "Elphaba, calm down!" he pleaded.

But she was far beyond the point of listening to reason. This was the last straw! _Those shoes rightfully belong to ME!_ She jerked out of his grasp. "Don't tell me to calm down!" she hissed. "My sister is dead, and that girl stole her shoes, and Glinda helped her, and I'm going to make her regret it!"

"For Oz's sake, this is no time to go flying off the handle!"

He might as well not have spoken, for all the effect his words had on her. "If it's a Wicked Witch they want, it's a Wicked Witch they'll get!" And with that she spun on her heel and stalked into view around the corner of the house, sending the Munchkins scattering before her with shrill cries of terror.

"Oh, I hope they don't get lost," Glinda was murmuring to herself, shielding her eyes with one hand as she watched the girl and the dog fade out of sight. "I am so bad at giving directions!"

"Well, well. How _good_ of you to come, Glinda," Elphaba drawled, her tone dripping with such obvious sarcasm that even Glinda couldn't fail to catch it.

The blonde turned at her voice and met her gaze steadily, looking unsurprised to see her. "I was wondering how long it would take you to get here."

"Tell me, are you here to mourn Nessa's death, or to celebrate it like the rest of Munchkinland? What spin did your _wonderful_ boss and his _esteemed_ press secretary tell you to put on it?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, come on, Glinda! Surely even _you_ can't be so utterly stupid that you don't see what's going on here."

"Elphaba, I understand you're upset," soothed Glinda, placing a hand on Elphaba's shoulder. "It's dreadful, it is, to have a house fall on you, but accidents will happen…"

The green girl shook off her hand, eyes blazing. "You call this an accident?"

"Yes!" the blonde insisted. Then, at the withering look Elphaba gave her, she quickly amended, "Well, maybe not an accident…"

"Well, then, what _would_ you call it?"

"Well… a regime change," Glinda offered with a small, tentative smile. Then, clearly pleased by her own cleverness, she added, "Caused by a bizarre and unexpected twister of fate."

"Oh, so you think cyclones just appear, out of the blue?" Elphaba stepped closer to Glinda, growing angrier and angrier.

The blonde backed away before Elphaba's wrath. "Well, I don't know, I never really – "

"No, of course you never!" interrupted Elphaba. "You're too busy telling everyone how _wonderful_ everything is!" Her voice rose in pitch, and she spat the last few words in a tone of pure venom.

"I'm a public figure now! People expect me – "

"To _lie_?"

"_To be encouraging!_" countered Glinda defensively.

"And did your instructions specifically include giving away my sister's shoes, or did you come up with that little addition all on your own?"

"Oh, Elphaba, you always did get upset over the silliest things. I mean, come on! They're just shoes – let it go!"

But Elphaba would not be silenced so easily. She was livid, and she refused to be stopped until she had had her say. "I wanted something to remember her by. And all that was left of her were those shoes. And now, thanks to you, that wretched little _farm girl_ has walked off with them! So don't you tell me to 'let it go'!"

"Why do they even matter to you?" Glinda wanted to know, sounding genuinely curious. "If you really wanted something to remember her by, you could've just raided the Governor's Mansion. What's so special about those shoes?" She paused for a moment before adding, as though to herself, "I didn't think they were all that stylish, to tell the truth…"

"It's the principle of the thing!" snapped the green girl. "Those shoes were my sister's, and since I'm her only living relative, they rightfully belong to me. They're not yours, or that little girl's, and you had no right to give them away!"

At this, the blonde narrowed her eyes. "Yes, well, a lot of us seem to be taking things that _don't belong to us_ lately, don't we?" she asked quietly in an extremely pointed tone.

Elphaba understood the implications of Glinda's question at once, and stiffened. "You leave him out of this!"

"If you have the right to be angry about your shoes being taken without your permission, I think I have the right to be angry about my fiancé being taken without mine!"

"He wasn't your fiancé. He told me himself that he never actually asked you to marry him."

"Well, maybe not directly, but it was implied!" retorted Glinda with an offended air.

Elphaba ignored her and continued as though she hadn't even spoken. "And besides, a pair of shoes is hardly comparable to a person, Glinda. A pair of shoes can't make a conscious decision to walk off."

"Well, just because a person can, it doesn't mean he did."

"Oh, please! As if I could make him do anything he didn't want to! For your information, he _asked_ to come with me."

"That's what you _want_ me to think, anyway."

"Excuse me?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Elphaba."

"No, actually, I'm afraid I don't. Why don't you enlighten me?"

"You think you're so smart! Well, I know all about your little love spell!"

"What in Oz's name…?!" Elphaba gave the blonde a completely flabbergasted look. _Love spell? What is she talking about?_

"Oh, don't try to play innocent with me!" Glinda cut her off. "You cast a love spell on Fiyero to make him leave with you! Admit it!"

"Wait a minute… you think I…" As she finally realized what had the blonde so upset, the green girl recoiled as though she had been slapped. "Honestly, Glinda, you've come up with some outrageous ideas before, but that one tops them all! I can't believe you really think I would do something so… so wicked!"

"Well, wicked is as wicked does."

"I'm going to pretend, for the sake of your health and physical well-being, that you did not just say that."

The blonde shrugged carelessly. "Fine. It's still the truth. It's not my problem if you won't listen to it."

"Are you trying to make me angry?" wondered Elphaba, her voice dangerously quiet. "Because we both know what happens when I get angry. I can't be held responsible for what I might do."

"Oh, go threaten someone who cares," Glinda frowned dismissively. "You don't scare me any more than you ever did."

The green girl raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Yes."

"I have one word for you, Glinda."

"What would that be?"

Elphaba grinned, not very nicely. She took a sudden step towards Glinda and shouted, "BOO!"

"Ahhhh!" shrieked the blonde reflexively. Then, realizing what Elphaba had just done, she glared reproachfully at her. "Elphaba!" she chided petulantly over the green girl's laughter. "Now that was just mean!"

"Not mean," Elphaba corrected her, pleased at the reaction her little trick had produced. "_Wicked._"

"You know, maybe they're all right about you. Maybe you _have_ changed."

"You know me better than that, Glinda. You can't honestly believe I'd really stoop so low as to use a love spell to make Fiyero come with me. I wouldn't hurt you like that. Or him." She was more than a little offended that the blonde didn't think her capable of winning Fiyero's love without the use of magic, but she diplomatically decided to let it go until they had established the more important fact that she was innocent of what Glinda was accusing.

For the first time, a hint of uncertainty appeared in the shorter girl's eyes. "No… it didn't seem like something you would do," she admitted slowly. "But… oh, I don't know! It made so much more sense when Madam Morrible said it…"

Elphaba froze. "Wait just a clock-tick… _Morrible_ gave you that crazy idea? And you actually _bought_ it?"

"Well, it sounded reasonable at the time…"

"So did her and the Wizard telling me to cast that levitation spell on poor Chistery," the green girl reminded her sharply. "Glinda, when will you ever learn not to listen to anything that woman says?"

"I was distraught, Elphie, all right?" the blonde protested defensively. "I was looking for Fiyero because he'd run off from the engagement party, and I ran into her and the Wizard in the throne room, and they told me the two of you had left together. I was so upset, I hardly knew what was going on after that. Morrible told me you had used magic to make him go with you, and…" She paused to give a defeated sigh and then continued in a small voice, "Well, I guess it was easier to believe that than to accept that… that he chose you over me."

The admission encouraged Elphaba. Maybe her friend wasn't completely in Morrible's clutches after all. "Don't you see, Glinda?" she asked, stepping forward to take the blonde by the shoulders for emphasis. "She was just trying to turn you against me! She knows how close we are, and with the influence you have over the people of Oz, she knows you could be a real threat to her 'Wicked Witch of the West' propaganda if you put your mind to it."

"I know that, Elphie," Glinda agreed with a nod. "I guess I knew it all along. I just… I was hurt, and angry, and… and I wanted to get back at you for… oh, I don't know, for making him fall in love with you. And believing that you would use magic to do it was the only way I could think of to get revenge."

Elphaba smirked. "Very subtle of you. I'm impressed."

"Well, like I said, I wasn't exactly thinking like myself at the moment. I mean, just look at what happened right after that! Morrible and the Wizard were trying to think of another way to capture you after you escaped from under the executioner's nose – I can't wait to hear how you pulled that one off, by the way – and I told them…" She stopped abruptly, and her blue eyes grew huge, as though she had suddenly realized something. Staring over Elphaba's shoulder at the crashed house, she pushed the taller girl aside and took a couple of steps toward the wreckage. "I told them… oh, sweet Oz…" she murmured weakly.

"What is it, Glinda?" demanded the green girl, unnerved by the change in the blonde's demeanor that her apparent revelation had caused. "What did you tell them?"

"I… I told them to… to use your sister. To make you think she was in trouble. I knew if you thought she was in danger, you'd be here in less than a clock-tick. And then that cyclone… Morrible must've done it… oh, Oz… Nessa…"

Elphaba felt as though she'd been kicked full-force in the stomach. All the air seemed to have been sucked out of her lungs. Surely her best friend couldn't have been so cruel! "Glinda… how _could_ you?" she gasped.

"Elphie, I'm sorry! I didn't think they'd actually hurt her!" Glinda wailed. "I didn't mean for this to happen! You've got to believe me!"

"I can understand you being angry at me… but what could you possibly have had against my sister?"

"I told you, I wasn't thinking! If I'd known they were going to… to… to do _this_, I never would've said it!"

"Well, it's a little late now to start thinking about what you would or wouldn't have done," Elphaba pointed out bitterly. All her fury at her sister's death had come flooding back with a vengeance, and now that she had a person on whom to focus it (regardless of the fact that said person was her best friend), it was stronger than ever.

"Elphie, please… I'm sorry…" The blonde rushed forward and grabbed both of Elphaba's hands in her own, pleading desperately.

But the green girl pulled her hands out of Glinda's grasp, unmoved. "'Sorry' isn't going to cover this one, Glinda. You were my best friend. You, of all people… I thought I could trust you. Obviously I was wrong."

"Don't say that, Elphie! You can trust me! I swear you can! How can I prove it to you?"

"After this, I don't honestly know if that would even be possible."

"Elphie, please… there's got to be _some_thing I can do…"

Glinda's efforts to come up with some way that she could possibly earn back the green girl's trust were interrupted when they suddenly heard the sound of many pairs of booted feet tramping up the Yellow Brick Road towards them. Elphaba stiffened and Glinda paled as they both suddenly remembered the other aspect of the blonde's betrayal, the part that was even worse than her being responsible for Nessa's death – the fact that the whole thing was a trap set up to capture Elphaba. She gave the shorter girl a look that clearly said, _And how exactly do you expect me to trust you __now_

"Get out of here," Glinda suddenly ordered almost frantically. "Both of you. You should be able to get away safely if you leave now. I'll take care of the guards."

Part of Elphaba's mind was insisting that the blonde was only helping them to try and assuage her guilt over her involvement in poor Nessa's untimely demise, that she didn't really care whether Elphaba and Fiyero escaped or not. But her practical side (luckily the much larger part of her) reminded her that an escape route was an escape route, no matter why it was provided. So she nodded her acceptance of Glinda's proposal, but not without warning, "Don't think for a clock-tick that this in any way erases what you've done."

The blonde nodded solemnly. "I never expected it to." She paused for a moment before offering bleakly, "Elphie, I know it doesn't help, but I really am sorry."

"I know you are," Elphaba conceded, finally softening a bit. She let out her breath in a long sigh. "And maybe someday I'll be able to forgive you. But it's going to take a long time."

"I understand." Glinda reached out and gave the green girl's hand a quick squeeze, which Elphaba returned. "Now go, before the guards get here."

Elphaba nodded again. Without another word, she turned in a whirl of black skirts and walked over to where Fiyero had been standing the whole time watching them. He took her hand reassuringly, and after a last glance over her shoulder at Glinda, she led him around to the other side of the house. They mounted her broom and took off, and just in time, too, because as they rose, they could see the blonde below them, addressing the soldiers that had come marching up mere moments after they lifted off. Elphaba squared her shoulders and pointed the broom westwards towards safety, letting the wind dry the tears that were now flowing freely down her cheeks.

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**I'm leaving today (Wednesday) to go on vacation, but I'll be back on Friday. An inbox full of loverly reviews would be fantastic to return to. (hint hint…)**


	11. Are You a Good Witch or a Bad Witch?

**A/N: Have I mentioned lately how much I absolutely ADORE you all??? This story has now officially broken 100 reviews. It is on 32 story alert lists and 27 favorite story lists. It has nearly 4300 hits. And I couldn't be happier. Seriously. You all are so amazing, and I love each and every one of you! Freshly-baked cookies, brownies, and any other baked goods of your choosing to one and all! .: distributes said baked goods :.**

**Okay, end of the freakily Glinda-esque ranting…**

**Anyhow, because you all are so incredible and stuffed my inbox with nine whole loverly reviews (and they were nice long ones, too!) while I was gone on vacation last month, plus more since then, this chapter's coming to you after only three WEEKS, rather than three MONTHS. And for those of you who requested more Fiyeraba, your wish is my command – the first half of the chapter's for you! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Only in my wildest dreamings.**

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Elphaba hardly said a word the entire trip back to the Animal hideout, and Fiyero knew better than to even try and get her to be sociable after what had happened. She needed time to think it all through herself before she could be expected to discuss it with anyone else. When she was ready to talk about it, if he didn't push her, she would come to him. So he resolved to be patient. He would wait as long as it took. As far as he was concerned, she was more than worth it.

Once they had landed and alighted from the broom, Elphaba stowed it, along with her cape, hat, and satchel, in its customary spot in the cabin. She then proceeded to stalk off without so much as a single word to anyone about where she was going, leaving a worried Fiyero, a grim Saryan and Braeyn, and a perplexed Dr. Dillamond in her wake.

"What in Oz's name…?" wondered the Goat, looking after her with a concerned expression. "I've never seen Elphaba like this."

"Saryan and I have," Braeyn told them. "Sometimes, when something really awful happens, she'll just up and take off by herself like this. She'll disappear for hours."

The Lion nodded his confirmation before adding, "Last time she got back from visiting her sister, she was gone nearly a whole day."

Fiyero sighed heavily. "Well, in that case, I expect it'll be a while before we see her again."

"You'd better tell us what happened," suggested the Bear.

The three Animals listened in stunned silence as Fiyero recounted everything that had gone on during his and Elphaba's short trip. The Goat was genuinely sorry to hear about Nessa's death, as he remembered the girl fondly from when she had been a student in his class at Shiz. Braeyn and Saryan, on the other hand, seemed ready to hunt Glinda down and tear her to shreds for betraying Elphaba and causing her such pain. However, all three agreed that it was no use going after the green girl. She would return when she was good and ready, and there was nothing any of them could do to make her come back a clock-tick sooner. And besides, no one had any idea where she had gone.

With nothing to do except wait for Elphaba, Fiyero found himself thinking back over the events in Munchkinland. And the more he thought about what had happened, the more he began to get a sinking feeling that he was more than partially to blame for all of it. If he hadn't put his own feelings and desires above everyone else's by choosing to leave the palace and go with Elphaba, Glinda would not have been upset enough to give Morrible and the Wizard the idea to lure Elphaba out of hiding by harming her sister. Nessa would still be alive. And Elphaba would still have her best friend. When you got right down to it, he realized in dismay, it was all his fault, really. He was surprised that Elphaba hadn't already ordered him to leave – surely she had figured out by now the part he had played in her sister's death and Glinda's betrayal.

_This is exactly why 'life is painless for the brainless,' Mr. Dancing-Through-Life,_ a small voice whispered sarcastically in his head. _When you don't think, you don't have to be bothered by unpleasant emotions like guilt._ But deep down, Fiyero knew the voice was wrong. He hadn't really been better off as he used to be before meeting Elphaba. It was his association with her that had changed him, and Elphaba had brought nothing but good into his life. _And now I've gone and brought even more pain into hers…_

He sighed heavily and shoved a hand back through his hair, beginning to understand why the green girl preferred solitude when dealing with such emotions. In fact, the idea of going off by himself so he could work through his thoughts in private was sounding very appealing at the moment. So, after telling Braeyn and Dr. Dillamond that he was going for a walk, he set off alone down the path that he and Elphaba had traveled the day he had first arrived at the Animal hideout. After he had rounded a bend in the path that put her cabin out of sight behind him, he came upon a place where a smaller trail branched off from the main one, snaking off farther up the hill into the distance. No one would venture up there, he decided, especially with night coming on. So he promptly bent his steps down the newly-discovered path and began to climb.

It took him longer than he expected to reach the end of the little-used trail. By the time he arrived at a small ledge that overlooked what seemed like most of the Vinkus, the stars were beginning to come out. He stopped for a moment to drink in the sight.

Suddenly, someone spoke from behind him. "I might have known you'd be the one who would finally find my little hideout." Startled at the unexpected sound of another human voice all the way up here, he turned in surprise to see Elphaba sitting there under a slight overhang, knees drawn up to her chest and her arms encircling them. "How did you figure out where I'd gone?"

"Believe it or not, I wasn't really looking for you," he told her. "Braeyn warned me that it wouldn't do any good, and I wasn't going to try and make you come back before you were ready. I was actually looking for someplace where I could be by myself for a while, and… well, I guess we think alike."

"That's something I never expected to hear you say," she commented dryly. "And what's more, it's a rather frightening thought."

He was mildly reassured by the fact that she hadn't let the opportunity for a sarcastic response pass by, but he still didn't want to disturb her if she wasn't ready for company just yet. So he offered, "I'll go if you'd rather be left alone."

But she shook her head slowly. "You can stay. I don't mind." She paused, then added quietly, "I'm tired of being alone." She reached out a hand to him, and he came over and took it. He laced their fingers together as he sat down next to her, and pressed his lips briefly to the back of her hand, which caused the corners of her mouth to turn up faintly.

"This is a pretty amazing view you've got up here," he observed, surveying the landscape laid out below them.

"I like to come up here and look at the stars." She tilted her head back to get a better view of the diamond-studded heavens as she continued, "Whenever life gets out of control, whenever my problems seem like they're just too much to handle, I come up here and sit for a while. It helps me put everything back into perspective."

"What do you mean?"

"I guess you could say looking at everything from here reminds me how small and insignificant I am. It helps me remember that even though my problems seem enormously important to me, they really don't matter at all in the grand scheme of things."

"Elphaba, how can you say your problems don't matter? Of course they matter. They matter to me."

"Why?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious, and it struck him, not for the first time, how it seemed to surprise her when anyone showed sincere concern for her. He was flooded with the sudden desire to singlehandedly take on every person who had ever contributed to the belief she seemed to have that she wasn't worth caring about.

"Because I don't like it that for some reason you've got this crazy idea that you always have to bear your pain alone, that no one else is ever going to help you. Life's made you too strong for your own good. I mean, for Oz's sake, you just lost your sister and your best friend in the same day! It's all right to need someone to help you at a time like this." He let go of her hand and pulled her close, and after a moment she gave in and relaxed into his embrace. "I know it hurts, Elphaba. And it's not fair that you have to go through this. You don't deserve this." He paused long enough to brush a gentle kiss against the top of her head before finishing in a slightly self-deprecating tone, "But for whatever it's worth, you've still got me."

That elicited a small smile from the green girl. "I know I do. And that means more to me than you can possibly imagine." She cuddled closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "You're the only thing that's getting me through this. I don't know what I'd do without you, Fiyero. You're all I've got left. Nessa's dead, and Glinda's… well…" She broke off with a shake of her head and finished, "I don't honestly know how I'd go on if I lost you too."

"You're not going to lose me," he assured her, drawing her closer. "I promise. I'm staying right here, with you."

She raised her head to look at him, and reached up to run her fingertips lightly over the scar on his cheek from the day they rescued young Saryan. "How is it that even when something as awful as this happens, you can make me feel better just by holding me?"

"What can I say? It's a gift," he replied, his mouth curving upward into a smirk.

That finally got a soft laugh out of Elphaba. "Don't you know a rhetorical question when you hear one?"

"No," he answered cheerfully.

She laid her head back on his shoulder, and they were both quiet for a minute or two, each content simply to know that the other was there. Finally Elphaba broke the silence. "So… you don't believe what Glinda said?" she asked hesitantly, sounding as though she was almost afraid to hear what his answer would be.

"About what?"

"The love spell."

"Oh, that." He shook his head earnestly. "Of course I don't believe it. Not for a single clock-tick."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. I know you would never do something like that."

"I'm glad," she said with a slight smile. "You don't know how nice it is to have someone believe _me_ for a change, rather than what they hear about me."

The undisguised relief in her dark eyes melted his heart, and he leaned down to press his lips briefly to hers. "Of course I believe you, Elphaba. You know, somehow I really doubt if you're even capable of lying. You're too honest to be a good liar."

"There are times when I wonder if that's really such a good thing. Honesty certainly didn't help me today with Glinda." She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again he could hear the sadness and regret in her voice. "You were exactly right to warn me before we left not to lose my head. If I'd listened to you like I should've, things probably would have turned out differently."

"Maybe so," he agreed cautiously. "But when I said that, I had no idea what Glinda was up to. I mean, she as good as told Morrible and the Wizard to murder your sister. Anyone else would've responded exactly the same way you did."

"But she apologized for it. And I think she really was sorry. But I couldn't bring myself to forgive her, not even after all the times she asked…" She buried her face in her hands as she moaned, "What kind of awful, cold-hearted, _wicked_ person am I that I can't forgive my best friend?"

Fiyero pulled her closer, and she hid her face in his shoulder. He felt her shoulders start to shake, and he realized when his shirt began to grow damp that she was crying. It rather unnerved him – he had never seen Elphaba so distraught. Come to think of it, he didn't think he'd ever even seen her cry before. For the first time, he saw just how deeply the day's events really had upset her. He ran one hand up and down her back in a soothing motion, trying to offer whatever comfort he could. "Elphaba, being angry at Glinda doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you human. Nobody I know would have been able to just forgive her after what she did."

His words seemed to calm her a little. After a minute or two she took several deep breaths and looked up at him, swiping at her eyes with the heel of her hand. "So you don't think I overreacted?"

"No, I don't," he assured her, catching her gently by the chin and tilting her face up towards his to wipe away a few tears that were still coursing their way down her cheeks. "But even if you had, it wouldn't make what Glinda did right. There's only so much a person can reasonably be expected to take. When your best friend intentionally betrays you, I'd say you have every right to hold it against her."

"And you don't think I was just being unreasonable and stubborn?"

Fiyero considered this carefully for a moment before replying with just the barest hint of amusement in his voice, "No, no more so than usual."

She fixed him with a brief glare, but she was only able to hold it for a clock-tick or two before giving in to the smile that was tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Just consider yourself lucky that I don't feel like favoring you with a response to that at the moment."

"But you will later?" he teased.

"You can always hope so, anyway," she shot back with a smirk. Then she paused and grew serious again as a new thought came to her. "Just out of curiosity, Fiyero, why were you looking for someplace to be alone?"

This was the question he had been dreading since the beginning of the conversation. He wished he could make up some sort of excuse to put off the confession a little longer, but he knew that was not an option. He could not and would not lie to her. She deserved the truth. So, drawing a deep breath, he answered, "Because I realized that everything that happened today was at least partly my fault."

She sat up at this, and gave him an incredulous look. "What? Where in Oz did you get a crazy idea like that?" she wondered.

"It's the truth," he insisted. "I should have thought before I just up and left how upset it would make Glinda. It was because she was angry at me for leaving with you that she gave Morrible and the Wizard the idea to go after your sister. And if it wasn't for me, you and Glinda wouldn't be fighting, either. So you see, it _is_ all my fault."

"Fiyero, stop it," Elphaba ordered, shaking her head. "You had nothing to do with this. It was Morrible who put the idea of me casting a love spell on you into Glinda's head. And Glinda's a grown woman. She's perfectly capable of making her own decisions. She _chose_ to believe Morrible, and she _chose_ to get even with me by telling Morrible and the Wizard to use my sister to try to capture me. There was nothing either of us could have done to stop her."

"Yes, but – "

"No 'but's, my sweet," she interrupted gently but firmly, cutting him off by putting a finger to his lips. "I don't want you to blame yourself for this. Feeling guilty about things you couldn't possibly have done anything to change is my department." She smirked slightly as she continued, "You've been hanging around me too long – I'm starting to rub off on you."

Amazed and immensely grateful that somehow she didn't hold him at fault, Fiyero reached out to cup her cheek with one hand and kissed her softly on the forehead. "Elphaba, I could spend every moment of the rest of my life with you, and it would never be too long."

She smiled at that, and settled herself back in his arms. "I agree completely. But let's concentrate on the next few days first."

He drew her closer, savoring the feeling of having her in his arms, and turned his attention once more to a study of the magnificent view. "I bet you could see clear to Kiamo Ko from up here."

"Kiamo Ko?" she echoed, arching an eyebrow curiously. "Where's that?"

"It's a castle my family owns," he explained, "although I'm not really sure why we have it. We've stayed there once or twice for a few nights at a time, but most of the time no one's there except for the sentries who watch over it. We've never actually lived there."

She gave him a puzzled look. "Where do you live?"

"The other castle."

"Oh. Of course."

"You'd really like Kiamo Ko, I think," he told her. "It's got tunnels, secret passageways, hidden rooms – you could spend a lifetime exploring the place and still not find everything there is to find."

"It sounds intriguing. I hope I get to see it one day."

"Someday I'll show it to you. We'll go together, just the two of us."

"Just the two of us," repeated Elphaba, her lips curving upward into a smile. "I love the sound of that." She nestled closer to him and lazily raised a hand to brush the hair back from his forehead, running her fingers lightly through it. "But to be perfectly honest, Fiyero, I don't really care where we go or what we do, as long as you're with me and I can call you mine."

"I _am_ yours, Elphaba," he reminded her quietly, seeking and finding her mouth with his. "Heart and soul. You know that."

She returned the kiss without hesitation, and nodded when they eased apart. "I know. And I'm yours. And I don't ever want to be anyone else's."

And despite everything that had gone wrong that day, they were both somehow able to put it all out of their minds, if only for a few brief minutes, and simply focus on each other. Here in the private sanctuary they created for themselves, they didn't have to worry or even care about the rest of the world and the problems it seemed to delight in concocting for them. This escape was a relief that both of them desperately needed, and they spent the rest of the night in each other's arms, finally falling into a peaceful and much-needed sleep.

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Meanwhile, in the palace in the Emerald City, things were not quite so tranquil. Madam Morrible had been livid with rage ever since she had learned that the Wicked Witch had once again managed to elude capture. The way the guards she had sent told it, the Witch had apparently been and gone before they arrived. But Morrible had been watching the entire time via crystal ball, and she knew that there was more to it than that. No, the Witch hadn't gotten away merely because of poor timing on the part of the guards. Glinda had warned her off, and then kept the soldiers occupied while Elphaba made her escape.

The Gillikinese girl had been supposed to distract the Witch, keep her there long enough for the guards to show up and take her into custody. Morrible had thought for sure that the brilliant little gem of an idea she had planted in that blissful blonde brain would be enough to keep Glinda angry long enough to override her friendship with Elphaba until the green girl was safely locked away in the dungeon once again.

But apparently it had not been the best idea to allow the blonde to meet with her old roommate unchaperoned. Why, with just a few well-chosen words, Elphaba had ruined in moments all the hard work that Morrible had done to turn Glinda against her! She didn't want to believe it, but even with all her efforts and her careful plotting, she seemed to have once again underestimated Elphaba Thropp and the strength of her bond with Glinda Upland. It was a miscalculation that she was determined not to make again.

A new plan was already formulating itself in her mind, and she let out a sinister chuckle as the last details came to her. Everything she had tried so far had failed to accomplish what she meant to do. It was time to take things to a whole new level. So this was how Elphaba wanted to play, was it – using subtle manipulation of the blonde's mind to keep her on her side? Well, that was perfectly fine with her. When it came to the manipulation of minds, there was no one in all of Oz who could come even remotely close to Morrible's level of skill. The green girl would soon learn that she was in far over her head, and she would curse the day she had ever dared to defy Madam Morrible!

The Wizard's press secretary looked down at the small half-sheet of paper in her hand. It was a note from none other than Glinda herself, requesting an audience at Morrible's earliest possible convenience. She smiled to herself. There was no time like the present to begin putting her latest scheme into action.

Summoning a guard, she directed him, "Please let Miss Glinda know that I am free to speak with her now."

"Right away, Madam," the guard nodded, and left to carry out her request. Now all that was left for Morrible to do was wait.

Not ten minutes later, the door of Morrible's private office flew open without warning, and in strode a thoroughly displeased-looking Glinda. She came immediately to stand directly opposite the older woman, glaring at her across the large desk where Morrible sat.

"Glinda, dear, how good to see you," the press secretary trilled in a voice so sweet, it was positively sugar-coated. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"Drop the act, Morrible. You know perfectly well why I'm here," spat Glinda.

Morrible raised an eyebrow, amused by the blonde's anger. "Perhaps I do," she allowed. "But perhaps I want you to enlighten me, just so I can make sure that we're both on the same page here."

"Fine." Glinda drew herself up to her full height and squared her shoulders. "You lied to me, and I'm not going to stand for it."

"Lied to you?" echoed the press secretary, careful to sound the very epitome of offended innocence. However, she knew that the gleam in her eyes would be enough to disabuse Glinda of any doubts she might have had about her accusation. "Why, whatever do you mean, dearie?"

Gritting her teeth, the blonde made a visible effort to get her temper under control that only added to Morrible's enjoyment of the whole situation. "I mean, you lied to me when you told me that Elphie cast a love spell on Fiyero to make him go with her. I talked to her, Madam, and I'm positive now that she did no such thing. I ought to have known better than to ever have believed you. And now an innocent woman is dead because of your lies."

Morrible nodded gravely, as though in sudden understanding. "Ah, I see what this is about. You're simply upset over the younger Miss Thropp's… untimely demise. But there's no need to fret over it, my dear. Just think of it as…" She paused, and allowed her lips to curve upward in a smile of satisfaction as she finished, "…a regime change. Caused by a bizarre and unexpected twister of fate."

Glinda's eyes widened as she recognized the very words she had said to Elphaba at the scene of the wrecked house. She couldn't have had any idea, of course, that Morrible had seen the whole thing, and the words had much the same galvanizing effect as if the older woman had prodded her with a red-hot poker. "So you _did_ cause that cyclone!" she cried, pointing an accusatory finger. "I knew it! _You_ killed Nessa, and it's _your_ fault that my best friend in the whole world hates me now!"

"On the contrary, my dear. You can't lay your guilt on me. You have no one to blame but yourself. Why, if it wasn't for the suggestion that we use the Witch's sister to get to her – which was a most surprising stroke of genius on your part, by the way – none of this would have happened."

"But I never would have said it if you hadn't told me that horrendible lie about Elphie and Fiyero!" Glinda protested.

"I suppose," conceded Morrible with a careless shrug. "But you didn't have to believe me, now did you? And once you decided to believe me, no one forced you to do anything about it. You chose your course of action all on your own. So you see, if anyone here is responsible for what happened, it's _you_."

"No… that's not true!"

Morrible flashed the blonde a brilliant smile. "Oh, but it is. In fact, I ought to be thanking you, really." Then her expression deepened into a frown. "Except for that unfortunate little attack of conscience you had there at the end. That will most definitely not be part of the plan this time."

"Plan?" echoed Glinda uncertainly. "What plan?"

"Why, my plan to use you to capture Elphaba, of course."

Morrible took pleasure in seeing the blonde's eyes go wide with horror and fury. "_What?!?_ I will _never_ help you hurt Elphie! Not ever again!"

"Ah, but that's where you're mistaken, dearie," the press secretary contradicted, privately anticipating her personal favorite part of the new plan she had concocted. "You see, you're not going to have any choice in the matter."

"What are you talking about?" Glinda wanted to know. It did not escape Morrible's notice that her voice was now quivering slightly with fear.

"I gave you the opportunity to help me willingly, and you made quite a pretty mess of it. I'm not taking any chances this time." The older woman shook her head in mock sorrow. "If you'd only done your part and made sure that the Witch stayed at that house long enough for our guards to bring her into custody, I wouldn't have to resort to this. Just remember, you've brought this upon yourself." And with that, Morrible bowed her head and began to recite a spell. She had only used this particular incantation a few times, but it had always proven most effective, and she was certain that this time would be no exception.

"What… what is that?" Glinda demanded in a trembling voice, making a pathetic attempt to sound authoritative. "What are you saying? What does that mean? You'd better tell me this instant, or I'll – "

But the blonde never got the chance to finish her threat, because at that moment, the last word of the spell left Morrible's lips. Glinda was immediately cut off mid-sentence, and a stricken expression crossed her face. The press secretary watched in great satisfaction as she attempted to fight the effects of the spell, knowing that her resistance wouldn't last long. And sure enough, after a moment, the clear sky blue of the girl's eyes slowly became dull and cloudy. Her hands fell limply to her sides, and she faced Morrible with a blank expression.

"Now then, my dear," the older woman smiled unpleasantly, "tell me: whom do you serve?"

"You, Madam Morrible," Glinda intoned flatly, her voice lacking any expression whatsoever.

"And whom do you obey?"

"You, Madam Morrible."

"Do you listen to or take orders from anyone else?"

"No, Madam Morrible. Only you."

Morrible's evil grin widened. "Good answer."

**

* * *

**

"So you're _absolutely sure_ that this will work?" the Wizard of Oz inquired dubiously not much later.

"Positive, Your Ozness," Morrible assured him with an earnest nod of her head.

"That's what you told me last time, and Elphaba is still out there," he reminded her pointedly.

She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Yes. Well. This time, I've left nothing to chance. I've taken steps to ensure that nothing can stand in our way."

" 'Steps'?" repeated the Wizard. "What sort of 'steps' do you mean, Madam?"

"I mean that I now have certain… unstable elements" – by this, they both knew that she meant Glinda – "firmly under my control. We won't have another foul-up like the last one."

"You can guarantee this?"

"Beyond the shadow of a doubt, Your Ozness. The only way to break the spell I put on Miss Glinda would be to kill her. And there's not a person in Oz who would dare lay a finger on the beloved Glinda the Good."

"All right, then, what exactly do you have in mind?"

"I've used a spell to discoverate the location of the Witch's hideout. Such spells have always failed before, but with our former Captain of the Guard with her, she must be spending longer periods of time in one place. And as I've already mentioned, Miss Glinda will no longer be a problem. All we have to do is tell her where to go, and then have her lead our guards there, and that will be that."

Slowly, the skeptical look left the Wizard's face, and he nodded. "Very well. You have my permission to proceed. I'll let you make the necessary arrangements."

"Thank you, Your Ozness." She couldn't help her grin of anticipation.

Once he had left, she called for the new Captain of the Guard. "We've found out where the Wicked Witch is hiding," she told him. "Tomorrow, you and your men will set out and follow Miss Glinda there."

"And when we arrive?" the captain asked.

"Do not harm the Witch beyond what is necessary to capture her. I want her brought to me alive."

"Yes, ma'am. What about anyone else who's there with her?"

Morrible took great pleasure in ordering, "Kill any other living creatures you find."

**

* * *

****Muahahaha, I'm so wicked leaving you all at that dreadful cliffhanger! .: cackles :. I may not update this again for a while, because I want to write a few chapters ahead. The next several chapters are going to make you all want to brutally murder me with blowtorches and sharp objects, and I want to have enough written ahead of what I'm posting so you all don't have to wait forever and a day to find out what happens. And to those of you who were wondering in your reviews of the last chapter if Fiyero and Elphaba escaping from the site of Dorothy's crashed house means that Fiyero is not going to become the Scarecrow… .: evil grin :. Well, let's just say that you shouldn't be making any assumptions, my pretties!**

**In honor of this being chapter 10, reviews will be responded to by the character of your choice from the story. Just tell me in your review who you want to reply, and I'll see to it that they do!**


	12. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

**A/N: Um… hi everyone! Remember this story? .: complete and utter silence; cricket chirps :. .: sigh :. I figured as much. Once again, I can only offer the usual trite excuses of work, school, and life in general for my unacceptable lack of updating.**

**Okay, guys, this chapter is where things start to get ugly. And just to warn you, they're only going to get worse before they get better. I can't decide whether it's pathetic or merely amusing that I can't commence large-scale character torture without at least a little bit of fluff beforehand to appease my protesting conscience. But it's the last chance I'm going to have to write any for a long time, so I couldn't pass it up!**

**I managed to sneak in quotes from both the Wizard of Oz movie and Aida. The two WoO ones are pretty obvious, but whoever finds the Aida reference and tells me in their review or a PM gets the virtual dessert of their choice and a special mention in my next A/N, just for knowing Aida well enough to find the quote. (And if you care to mention the WoO ones too, go right ahead!) There's no limit to the number of people who can win, so happy hunting!**

**Disclaimer: I'm only borrowing the characters to play with for the entertainment of myself and my readership. I'll put them back relatively unscathed when I'm finished… maybe… .: shifty eyes :.**

* * *

One afternoon a few days after Fiyero had found her up in her hideaway at the top of the mountain, Elphaba was taking a short break after a rather stressful morning full of work. She had just finished finalizing plans for another trip to Munchkinland later in the week. With the Governor dead and no heir to speak of, no one was quite sure what was going to be done regarding the leadership of the province, and she wanted to make certain that as many Animals as possible got out while they could, just in case whoever came to power next shared the Wizard's feelings about the sentient Beasts. Now the last details of the trip had been taken care of, and she was lounging outside beneath her favorite shade tree, determined to relax for a few minutes. With nothing else to do, her mind automatically wandered to the topic that had been occupying it during all her free moments recently, a topic that had nothing whatsoever to do with traveling or rescuing Animals.

Elphaba had never had occasion before to observe anyone who was truly in love, so she had no way to tell if what she was feeling was normal for someone in such a state. The way she couldn't seem to stop thinking about Fiyero, the way the mere sight of him was enough to bring a smile to her face, the way she wanted to spend every single moment with him, the way she somehow knew without a doubt that she could trust him completely, that he would never hurt her… it was all uncharted territory to her, and quite frankly, it was more than a little intimidating. She had never had any experiences that could have prepared her for something as enormous, as life-changing as this.

It wasn't the naive, infatuated sort of love that Glinda had giggled and blushed over back at Shiz. It didn't have the frenetic pace or tumultuous ups and downs of a college romance, for which she was exceedingly grateful. No, this was something far stronger and deeper, much calmer and more complex. Neither of them felt any need to rush things between them; they were both content to let their relationship progress at its own pace. Now that they were finally together, she wanted to slow down and take the time to savor every moment, and Fiyero seemed to feel the same way.

Never in her wildest dreams had she ever thought that being in love would be so amazing, so… fulfilling. Being with him was like rediscovering a lost part of herself that she hadn't even realized she was missing. She had never known anything like the overwhelming sense of safety, of belonging, that she had found in his arms. After only a few days, he was already so much a part of her that she knew with astonishing certainty there could never be anyone else for her. She certainly didn't claim to know anything about love, but she did know that what she felt for him was the truest, most absolutely beautiful thing she'd ever experienced.

Her thoughts were interrupted when someone observed from above her, "You've got that 'thinking' look again." She looked up to see Fiyero standing there watching her.

" 'Thinking look'?" she echoed, raising an eyebrow. "My dear, how would you of all people possibly recognize such a thing?"

"Well, I may not use it much myself," he conceded with a chuckle. "But I know _your_ thinking look. What's on your mind?"

"Do you really have to ask?" wondered Elphaba with a smile, reaching for his hand and tugging him down to sit next to her so she could cuddle against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed a loving kiss against his cheek.

Returning her smile with one of his own, he pulled her into his arms and bowed his head to find her lips with his. "No. But I like to hear you say it. And besides, you know me. Sometimes I need things explained."

She laughed out loud at that. "Pleading ignorance as an excuse won't work, my sweet," she informed him cheerfully. "I can see straight through that in a clock-tick. You're only trying to trick me into telling you yet again how amazing you are and how glad I am to have you here with me."

"Guilty as charged," he admitted with a grin. "But you can't blame me for trying."

"I suppose not. But haven't you ever heard that actions speak louder than words?" She shot him a sly look as she continued, "Although I suppose some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?"

Fiyero laughed, and clutched his chest dramatically as though her words had wounded him. "I think I've just been doubly insulted!" he exclaimed in greatly-overacted dismay.

"Well, there may be hope for you yet – at least you noticed," she smirked, earning herself a mock-offended look. "But it was very wicked of me. However can I make it up to you, my sweet?"

"Oh, I might be able to think of _something_…"

"Such as…?"

"Hmm, I don't know… maybe something like this." He pulled her closer, then leaned down and kissed her thoroughly.

"Mmm… apology accepted?" she asked rather breathlessly when they eased apart several decidedly long moments later.

Fiyero brushed his lips against her cheek and grinned down at her. "Well, it's a start."

Any more 'apologizing' that Elphaba might have been inclined to do was put on hold as Midnight the Cat came rushing up, the Foxes Grace and Fly right on her heels. All three of the Animals were panting heavily, as though they had just run a long distance, and their eyes were wide with fear.

"What's the matter, you three?" Elphaba asked, pulling away from Fiyero. "What's going on?"

"There's a whole army of the Wizard's soldiers headed right for us!" reported Midnight anxiously.

"They've gotten through all the barriers and traps!" Fly added in despair.

The green girl sat up straighter. "_All_ of them?" she frowned. "That's impossible. No one could make it through the spells I cast around this place."

Grace swallowed hard. "Unless they knew the counter-spells."

"Unless they knew the…" Elphaba stiffened at the implication of the Fox's words. Closing her eyes, she quickly focused her mind on the magical barriers she had put up, reaching out with her powers to see if they were still intact. To her shock and dismay, she found that the three Animals had been absolutely correct. She could sense no trace of the spells she had cast to protect the Animal hideout. In their place were remnants of a different magic that had undone them, a magic that felt uncomfortably familiar, but that she couldn't quite place.

Her eyes flew open and she was on her feet in an instant, muttering a curse under her breath. Turning to the three Animals, she directed, "All right, you all know what to do. Go and warn everyone. Hurry!" They ran off at once to obey her. The moment they were gone, she began to pace furiously. "How in Oz could this have happened?" she demanded of no one in particular.

Beside her, Fiyero had also gotten to his feet. "How isn't important right now," he told her matter-of-factly. "We can worry about that later. What's important is getting ready to defend ourselves against those soldiers."

She was rather startled and more than a little annoyed by his apparent calm, until she remembered that he had been Captain of the Guard. It surprised her to discover how easily and how willingly she had relegated that fact to the back of her mind. But now she was grateful for it. She couldn't think of anyone better to have at her side in a situation like this. "You're right," she conceded. "It won't do us any good to ask questions if we get ourselves killed before we can answer them."

"What can I do to help?"

"Go find Braeyn and Saryan and the others. They'll be able to tell you what needs to be done. I've got some things to see to here first, and then I'll be there."

"All right." He pulled her close and held her. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. You'll see."

Elphaba nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, hiding her face in his shoulder for a moment to gather her strength. "Be careful, understand?"

"Of course," he assured her. "And don't you go doing anything stupid, either."

"I think that's _your_ area of expertise, my sweet," she pointed out with a faint smile. "But I'll do my best." They shared one last kiss, and then she gently but firmly pushed him away. "Go on. The Animals will need all the advice you can give them about the Wizard's guards before they get here."

Fiyero nodded his assent, and after reaching out to touch her face one last time, he set off quickly in the direction that Midnight, Grace, and Fly had disappeared. Elphaba watched him go, trying to ignore the awful sinking feeling she had that if she let herself be separated from him now, she would never see him again. But after a few moments, she shook off her dread as best she could. She couldn't afford to panic now, not when there was nothing yet to panic _about_. Nodding firmly to herself, she turned and hurried into the cabin to collect her broom, hat, cape, and satchel. _I'll show those blasted soldiers just who they're dealing with,_ she thought grimly. _Let them try to tangle with me, and they'll see what happens!_

A short time later, Elphaba stood with the others at the edge of the camp, ready to make their stand. All their preparations were complete; all that was left to do now was wait for the soldiers to arrive. And as it turned out, they weren't kept in suspense for very long. Soon they could make out the sound of many booted feet marching closer and closer. It was followed a minute later by the appearance of the soldiers of whom Grace, Fly, and Midnight had warned them. They were certainly intimidating. But it was not the sight of the guards that made Elphaba pale in shock. Striding along at the head of the troops was none other than Glinda the Good herself.

In another moment, the two armies were facing each other, lined up behind their respective leaders. Glinda and Elphaba came face-to-face for the first time since the scene of Nessa's death. And the green girl began to think that perhaps, by refusing to forgive her friend that day, she had allowed things to go a step too far.

For a long minute, everything seemed to stop as the two witches stood staring at each other. No one on either side moved. Even the wind seemed to die, and an eerie, almost otherworldly silence fell for a few seconds as the two groups stood poised precariously on the edge of battle. Finally, her eyes never leaving Elphaba's face, Glinda made a motion with her hand, signaling the men gathered behind her to charge. The guards surged forward, and all hell broke loose.

It was over in less time than Elphaba would have thought possible. The Animals had infinitely more to lose than the Wizard's troops, and so they had the advantage of fighting with the desperate fervor of those who are defending the only thing they have – their freedom. But they were grossly outnumbered, and even if the numbers had been more equal, they would never have stood a chance against the guards' superior weaponry. She incapacitated as many of the soldiers as she could with her magic (whether they were dead or simply knocked out she didn't know and didn't care), along with several others who were foolish enough to come within range of the handle of her broom, but for every man she felled, three more seemed to spring up out of nowhere to take his place. Still, she somehow managed to protect herself and anyone around her who she could see was in trouble.

But she could not be everywhere at once, and although they put up a heroic fight, the Animals were gradually overcome. Their screams and roars blended with the shouts of the soldiers into a deafening cacophony as it became clear that all their best efforts had been in vain. Elphaba didn't know which was worse – the horrible chaos of noise, or the way it slowly died off as, one by one, the Animals were killed or captured.

Eventually the battle seemed to be coming to an end. As the adrenaline finally began to wear off and she became aware of her surroundings again, she realized there were no more soldiers around that she could see, and only faint noises coming from elsewhere in the camp. Glinda seemed to have disappeared, and she saw no sign of Fiyero anywhere, either. She found herself alone, or very nearly so, surrounded on all sides by the inert bodies of the guards she had magicked (and the ones she had hit) and many dead and dying Animals. She gaped in horror at the carnage around her, her heart wrenching as she saw the Beasts she had helped, who had been her only friends for so long, strewn all over the ground as though they were nothing but garbage.

She had promised them all that she would protect them, that she would never let them be hurt by the Wizard or anyone working for him. And they had believed her. They had _trusted_ her. And just look where it had gotten them. Yet more proof, as if she had needed it, that she brought nothing but destruction and death to those she cared about the most. The guilt was nearly too much to bear.

Suddenly a low moan issued from somewhere nearby. Elphaba scanned the macabre scene until she pinpointed the source of the noise, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle a cry of dismay when she realized that it had come from none other than Braeyn. The Bear was curled on her side, groaning softly, her golden eyes nearly shut and glazed with pain. Her shaggy fur was matted with blood, and the sticky liquid still streamed from several ugly wounds in various places on her body.

Fighting down the urge to panic, Elphaba rushed to kneel beside her friend. "Braeyn? Braeyn, can you hear me?" she asked, laying a hand on the broad forehead.

At the sound of her voice, the Bear managed to open her eyes a bit wider. "Ah… little witch… is that you? Everything is… so dark… I can't… see you clearly."

"Yes, Braeyn, it's me," Elphaba confirmed.

"Are you… all right? You weren't… hurt, were you?"

"No, I'm not hurt. I'm fine. But you shouldn't be worrying about me right now. You're hurt, and badly, too, from the looks of it."

"Thank you… child… I hadn't… noticed."

Elphaba smiled through the tears that were gathering in her eyes. Even mortally injured, her friend couldn't resist a sarcastic remark. "I might be able to do something to help you. Here, just lie still…"

But the Bear cut her off with a quiet growl. "Do not… waste your power… trying to help me… little witch. It will… do no good."

"But Braeyn – "

"No. I'm… too badly injured. Nothing… you can do… can save me now."

"I am _not_ going to just let you die!" protested Elphaba vehemently.

"Who are you… to decide… who lives… and who dies?" Braeyn demanded, quite severely for the condition she was in.

Properly chastened, Elphaba swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. "Well, then, at least let me do something to help you feel better."

"I suppose… I can allow… that much," the Bear acquiesced rather grudgingly.

Elphaba nodded. "All right. Just relax, this will only take a clock-tick." Laying both hands on Braeyn's chest, she bowed her head, closed her eyes, and began to chant a spell for the relief of pain that she had learned years before.

After a few moments, Braeyn's labored breathing seemed to ease somewhat, and she was able to open her eyes more. "That's much better," she murmured. "Thank you, child."

"You're more than welcome." The green girl paused for a moment before continuing, her voice laden with guilt, "Oh, Braeyn, I'm so, so sorry… this is all my fault…"

The Bear frowned at her. "What in Oz's name are you talking about?"

"If you hadn't been involved with me, none of this would have happened. You wouldn't be…" The green girl couldn't bring herself to complete the sentence.

"Elphaba, stop that," Braeyn ordered, shaking her head. "You know as well as I do that if it hadn't been for you, those soldiers would have killed my cubs that day. And it's been my privilege getting to know you since then."

"No, my friend. The privilege has been mine," contradicted Elphaba. She was having to fight desperately now to keep her tears at bay. "Braeyn, please… I'm sure there's some way I can heal you… if you'll just let me try and –"

But Braeyn cut her off. "I already told you, child, I'm too far gone. I appreciate the thought, but no amount of magic will do me any good now."

"Don't talk like that, Braeyn. Please."

"Elphaba, it's no use denying the truth." Braeyn shifted slightly, and although she did not feel any pain, it was clear that what little life she had left was quickly ebbing away. "I'll always be grateful for everything you've done for me."

"Shh. I know that," Elphaba assured her, managing a small smile for her friend's sake. "You don't need to thank me. Rest now."

The Bear closed her eyes, and was still for a few moments. Then the shallow but steady rise and fall of her chest ceased, her body went limp, and she was gone. Elphaba bowed her head and finally let the flood of tears come.

She was so immersed in her grief that she didn't register the sound of approaching footsteps until rough hands seized her by the shoulders. Shocked rudely back into the present moment, she looked up to find herself surrounded by some of the Wizard's guards. Having realized too late the danger she was in, she twisted and struggled, trying to free herself of their grasps, but to no avail.

"Well, well, well," a familiar female voice intoned from behind her, sounding quite pleased with the situation. She froze. "So the Wicked Witch of the West has finally been well and truly captured. You see, gentlemen, she's not as powerful as she'd like everyone to think." This gave rise to murmurs of realization and smug superiority among the soldiers, which were allowed to continue for a few moments before being cut off by an order. "Bring her to me."

Elphaba was hauled unceremoniously to her feet, spun around, and prodded forward until she stood in front of the woman who had spoken. "Glinda, I understand you're upset with me," she said through gritted teeth, doing her best to keep control of her emotions. "But was it really necessary to take it out on _them?_" She gestured with a nod to the bodies of the Animals that were strewn about.

The blonde considered this for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes. Yes, it was." Then she leaned closer to Elphaba and lowered her voice so only the green girl could hear her as she continued, "You took away everything that ever mattered to me. It was only right that I returned the favor."

Elphaba winced at the words, but quickly recovered her composure and narrowed her eyes. "Is that what this was all about? Well, you're a little late, then. I'm afraid the Wizard and Madam Morrible accomplished that several years ago."

At the mention of the press secretary's name, a strange expression flashed across Glinda's face for an instant. She opened her mouth to speak. But before she could get a word out, she was suddenly interrupted as a new voice joined the conversation.

"Let her go!" Both witches turned in surprise to see Fiyero, an expression of grim determination on his face, aiming a rifle (probably acquired from one of the soldiers who had been killed during the battle) at the two guards who were holding Elphaba.

"Fiyero, what in Oz…?" she demanded. She really did appreciate him coming to her rescue, but she couldn't help wondering what could possibly have possessed him to make him do something so utterly _brainless._ Didn't he see that threatening the guards was only going to make the situation worse?

But apparently he hadn't yet proven his complete lack of common sense effectively enough. "Let her go," he repeated. Then, without warning, he swung the barrel of the gun around so it was pointing at the blonde in front of her. "Or explain to all of Oz how the Wizard's guards watched while Glinda the Good was slain."

Glinda's eyes went wide, and she froze. This had obviously not been part of her plan. "You wouldn't dare," she hissed. But she sounded uncertain.

"I said, _let her go_," Fiyero commanded yet again, his voice dropping slightly in volume, but increasing in intensity. The guards holding her looked at each other dubiously, but in the end they had no choice. It would mean certain death for them if they allowed any harm to come to Oz's most beloved public figure. They released their grips on Elphaba's arms with no small degree of reluctance, and she quickly stepped away from them. Fiyero reached down and picked up her broom from where she had left it on the ground next to Braeyn's body, then tossed it to her. "Elphaba, go. Now."

"No. Not without you," she insisted, giving him a beseeching look. _What happened to being careful?!?_ she wanted to scream at him. But she held her tongue for the moment. There would be plenty of time to scold him later… she hoped.

"I'll be all right," he assured her. "Now hurry and get out of here." When she still hesitated, he took a step closer to her, his blue eyes burning into hers. "Do it!"

It was the closest she had ever heard him come to pleading, and the desperation in his voice was too much for her. Even though everything in her was rebelling violently against the thought of leaving him there in harm's way, she found that she was incapable of doing anything except obeying him. She nodded quickly, giving in. Then, with one last glance at him over her shoulder, she stumbled away towards safety, already knowing deep down that abandoning him had been a terrible mistake.

She did not go far, choosing instead to simply get out of sight and then double back secretly. She had to see what was going to happen. And she could not, _would_ not, leave Fiyero on his own to defend himself against those soldiers. He still had his rifle trained on Glinda, obviously trying to give Elphaba time to get away. After all, the guards couldn't follow her if doing so meant risking the blonde's life. But sooner or later he was going to have to put it down. And when he did, the green girl knew that the soldiers would lose no time in taking him into custody for threatening Glinda.

And sure enough, that was exactly what happened. The instant Fiyero lowered his gun, two of the guards grabbed him roughly, tied his hands behind his back, and shoved him to his knees in front of Glinda, who was watching with an expression of frigid disinterest. "What shall we do with him for endangering you, Your Goodness?" one of them asked.

"Oh, rubbish. I was never in any danger," the blonde scoffed. "We'll bring him back to the Emerald City with us; we can decide a suitable punishment for him there. We have more important things to deal with at the moment. The Witch is still out there somewhere. We are not leaving until we find her and are _certain_ that she can't escape."

"With all due respect, Your Goodness," another of the guards piped up rather reluctantly, "this place is quite large. She could be anywhere. It would be a waste of our time, and yours, for us to go off hunting for her when we don't even know where to start looking."

Glinda gave the guard who had spoken an icy glare, and seemed about to snap at him for questioning her orders. But then she appeared to reconsider. "A waste of time, you say?" she queried, sounding thoughtful. "Maybe you're right. It does seem rather foolish to go out looking for something when we don't even know where to begin." Then her gaze fell on Fiyero, and her lips curved upward into a smile that made Elphaba's stomach twist in dread of whatever was coming next. "But luckily for us, we won't have to do that."

"What do you mean, Your Goodness?" wondered a third soldier.

"I mean, we have all the information we need right here." The blonde stepped forward and laid a hand on Fiyero's shoulder. "He knows the Witch very well, I should think. I'm sure he has at least an idea of where she will have gone." By now, the guards were beginning to catch on to her train of thought, and they began to murmur in understanding and anticipation. Still wearing the disconcerting smile, Glinda caught her former fiancé by the chin and tilted his head back, forcing him to look up at her, as she directed, "Take him away and get it out of him. By _any_ means necessary."

The soldiers needed no further urging. They dragged Fiyero to his feet and marched him away, and Elphaba nearly had to physically hold herself in place to keep from rushing after them. She remembered all too well her experience in the palace dungeon the day she had snuck in to set the winged monkeys free. And she could only assume that he was bound for a similar fate, if not a worse one. He would die sooner than betray her, that much she was certain of. But the thought of him being tortured and probably killed because of her was too much for her to bear. She refused to leave the person she loved most in the world in danger, especially when said danger had all come about because of her. But what could she possibly do to save him?...

Then an idea came to her. Its success was by no means guaranteed. It was incredibly dangerous. It was a long shot at best. But it was all she could think of at the moment. She knelt down, dug into her satchel and pulled out the Grimmerie, laying it on the ground in front of her to spread it open fully. Using all the willpower she possessed to fight down her rising panic, she turned the pages as quickly as she could, looking for anything she could possibly use to help Fiyero.

At last, near the back of the ancient book, she came across a spell that seemed to offer the hope she so desperately needed. She closed her eyes for just a moment to gather her powers. "I know you did it to protect me, my sweet," she whispered, as though Fiyero could somehow hear her, "but please don't ask me to face the thought of life without you. I can't do it. I just can't." Then she opened her eyes once more. Focusing on the words on the page in front of her, she began to chant. "Eleka nahmen nahmen atum atum eleka nahmen…"

Finally she finished casting the spell. The last syllable rolled off her tongue, and she relaxed her intense concentration, allowing the energy she had collected to dissipate. Knowing that she had done all she could, and hoping desperately that it would be enough, Elphaba closed the Grimmerie and slid it back into her satchel. Then she got to her feet, ready to slink away and disappear again. But she hadn't gotten more than a short distance when a voice suddenly spoke from behind her.

"Going so soon? I wouldn't hear of it. Why, my little party's just beginning!"

The green girl froze in her tracks and turned slowly to face the person who had called out to her. Standing there, a very unpleasant and extremely disconcerting grin of triumph on her face, was Glinda.

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**.: grins :. I told you that you shouldn't be making any assumptions about Fiyero not becoming the Scarecrow. And if you all are ready to kill me for this cliffhanger, just wait until you read the **_**next**_** chapter. .: more grinning :.**


	13. There's a Kind of a Sort of Cost

**A/N: Only a week between updates! YAY ME! .: dances :.**

**Yes, yes, I know, I'm terribly wicked for killing Braeyn and making Glinda evil and separating Elphaba and Fiyero and turning him into the Scarecrow. .: cackles :. And that's barely even scratching the surface compared to what's coming up in this installment! Now, I know that you're all going to be screaming for my immediate (figurative!) death by the slowest and most painful means possible by the time you finish this chapter. But you can't say I didn't warn you that bad things were coming. .: grins :. **

**Special mention goes to TheWickedWitchOfOz and The Phantom's Muse for finding the line from Aida. In case you're curious, it was "a step too far." Thank you to everyone who sent in a guess!**

**Disclaimer: If Greg, Steve, and Winnie own Wicked, what does that make me? A pathetically obsessed authoress who has to be satisfied with writing fan fiction about it, that's what.**

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"Fiyero, too? Glinda, how _could_ you?" Elphaba demanded in a violent whisper, stepping closer to her friend. "I know you're still upset that he left you, but you might really have stopped short of sending him off to certain death!" 

The smug smile never left the blonde's face. "Oh, don't worry, Elphaba. You'll be joining him soon enough." Before the green girl could react, she flung her hands forward, releasing a surge of magical power that caught Elphaba off-guard and knocked her to the ground.

"What in Oz's name…!?" she gasped incredulously as she scrambled back to her feet, every reflex now on full alert. "Where did you get so much power? You don't have a single magical bone in your body!"

"Things aren't always what they seem, dearie," Glinda told her. "People change."

"Not where inborn magical talent is concerned, they don't," the green girl retorted. Then she stiffened as she realized what Glinda had just called her. _Dearie_… The only person who had ever addressed her as 'dearie' was… Terrified by the awful suspicion that was rapidly filling her, she ordered, "Look at me, Glinda. Look me directly in the eyes."

"Why should I?"

"Just _do it!_"

When the blonde refused to cooperate, Elphaba strode forward, grabbed a hold of her face with both hands, and forced her to hold her head still, allowing her to see the shorter girl's eyes. Just as she had feared, she noticed at once that their usual clear sky blue shade was now murky and opaque. Glinda was scowling at her, but it didn't seem as though she was so much looking directly _at_ Elphaba as looking _through_ her. It was almost as though the blonde's eyes had become nothing more than lenses to allow someone else to peer out. They were there, but they would not function without someone operating them from behind the scenes. And Elphaba had no doubt whatsoever who that someone was.

"Morrible," she spat contemptuously, shoving the blonde away from her. Now she realized why the magic that had undone the spells she had placed around the camp had seemed so familiar. "I should have known."

"Yes, you should have," Glinda – or rather, Madam Morrible – agreed, sounding quite pleased with the situation. "Quite honestly, I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out. I thought you were cleverer than that."

Elphaba ignored the jab and demanded, "How did you find me?"

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, dearie," Morrible sneered. "It wasn't all that difficult, really. A simple locating spell did the trick quite nicely."

"That's impossible. I never stay in one place long enough that a locating spell could have any effect…" But she trailed off as she realized that what she had said wasn't strictly true. Since Fiyero had joined her, she'd been spending much more time than usual at the camp, mainly so she could be with him. Her heart sank as she realized that she had betrayed all the Animals by her selfishness. She should have been more careful, more vigilant, more concerned about the welfare of the camp as a whole than about her own desires!

The press secretary clearly saw the realization flash across her face, no matter how she tried to hide it, and a venomous smile turned up the corners of her mouth. "Amazing how easy it is to get… _distracted,_ isn't it? You were so caught up with your handsome prince that you forgot to be constantly on your guard. And just look what's come of it."

Elphaba shook her head, utterly disgusted. "Is there _anything_ you wouldn't corrupt or prey on to benefit your twisted schemes?"

"Hmm…" The older woman considered this for a moment before replying thoughtfully, "No, I don't think so."

Then the green girl realized something else. "Wait a clock-tick… If you cast a locating spell on me… then you didn't need Fiyero to tell you where I was at all, did you? You could have found me without the soldiers' help! You didn't need any information from him! You only sent those guards off to torture him because _you love to see innocent people suffer!_"

"It seems I've been found out," Morrible grinned. She did not sound sorry about it in the least.

Elphaba gritted her teeth, trying to keep control of her temper. For the first time in years, she was angry enough that she could sense her powers gathering deep within her of their own accord, building up to the sort of explosion they had used to cause before she had learned to control them. Before she could do anything to hold herself in check, the rush of magic had released itself, hurling itself at the blonde in front of her. It sent her flying backwards several feet before slamming her hard into the ground. "You'll pay for this, Morrible," she growled, taking a few menacing steps towards the prone woman before she had a chance to get up.

But the press secretary merely laughed. "Ah, ah, ah," she scolded in a mocking tone as she rose. "Take it easy, dearie. You wouldn't want to hurt your best friend in the world, now would you?"

The question broke through the haze of Elphaba's fury. Even if Morrible was controlling her mind, it was still Glinda standing in front of her. And she couldn't justify doing physical harm to Glinda simply to take out her anger at Morrible. Besides, hurting Glinda physically would not affect Morrible at all. A person using a mind control spell could not feel the sensations that the person they were controlling was experiencing. The futility of her position was truly maddening.

"I'd sooner see Glinda _dead_ than let her be controlled by _you_," she snapped, settling for unleashing a bit of her wrath verbally.

"Well, well. It seems you remember some of your lessons from my sorcery class after all," Morrible purred. "Because, as I'm sure you've no doubt recalled by now, the only way to break the hold of a mind-controlling spell on a person would be to kill them."

"Of course I know that. I'm not an idiot, Morrible. Don't treat me like one."

"And neither am I, dearie. Which is how I know that you would never be able to do what it would take to release Glinda from the spell. You care about her far too much to ever be capable of killing her."

Elphaba drew herself up to her full height, her eyes blazing. "You're right about one thing: Glinda is my best friend in the world. That's exactly why I _can_ do it, and why I _have_ to do it! I care about her too much to let her stay under your control!"

The press secretary scoffed derisively. "You're bluffing. You'd never actually go through with it."

Now it was Elphaba's turn to grin unpleasantly. "It's an awfully big gamble for you to assume such a thing, _dearie_. I certainly hope you didn't stake much on it – because you're about to lose your bet."

Relishing the look of utter shock and dismay on the blonde's face as Morrible realized that she had once again underestimated the green girl, Elphaba quickly called to mind a spell she had read in the Grimmerie some time ago. The spell promised instant death for its victims, and she had turned the page with a shudder, never expecting to have any need of such an incantation. However, for some odd and incomprehensible reason, the words had stuck in her mind. In fact, she could remember them clearly to this day, a fact for which she was now immensely grateful. Extending her arms, she shouted the words of the spell aloud before Morrible had time to react.

At first, nothing seemed to have happened. But then a look of surprise and slight reproach flickered across the blonde's face. A veil of mist seemed to lift from her eyes, leaving them the translucent crystalline hue that Elphaba remembered. The two witches' gazes locked just for an instant, but to the green girl it was an instant that seemed to last an eternity. Then Glinda crumpled to the ground with a soft sigh, and did not move again.

Elphaba stood frozen, stunned at what had happened. _What in Oz had she done?!?_ Killing Glinda to free her from Morrible's spell had certainly seemed like the right course of action when the press secretary had been taunting her through her friend's mouth. But now, standing there after the fact, she couldn't help but be shocked and appalled by her own deed. Once again she had let herself get carried away by the situation and acted before weighing all her options. Only this time the consequences of her thoughtlessness were far graver and more permanent than ever before. She had let Morrible provoke her into doing something exceptionally rash, and she had no one to blame for it except herself. And now there was no one except herself to deal with the aftermath.

The world seemed to swim before her eyes for a moment, and she suddenly found that she couldn't bear to look at the results of her spell a single clock-tick longer for fear that she might be sick. Turning her back on her friend, she staggered away, desperately trying to think of something, _anything_ that would keep her mind occupied. _Fiyero_. Yes. Fiyero. She hadn't seen him since the soldiers had marched him away at Glinda's command. The blonde might have been beyond any help Elphaba could give now, but there was still a chance that Fiyero at least had been spared. She ought to go and look for him; she could deal with Glinda later. It was foolish to stand there agonizing over someone she couldn't save when there might still be someone out there that she could. She didn't know whether the spell she had cast on him had worked, but if it had, she reasoned, he would hopefully still be nearby waiting for her. With this thought in mind, she wandered off in the direction the guards had taken him to see what she could discover.

A short time later, Elphaba had looked everywhere she could think of that he might possibly have gone, but her search had turned up nothing, and she was quickly losing what little hope she had had. If he had been anywhere close by, she would have found him by now. And besides, if he had managed to get away from the guards, he wouldn't have waited for her to come looking for him. He would have come to find her if he had been at all able. This left only two possible conclusions: either he was somewhere nearby where she simply hadn't seen him and wasn't able to come to her, or he was somewhere else entirely. Either way, it meant the same thing. Her spell had been unable to save him. It had been too little, too late. Yet another failure to add to the many she had accumulated today. Her total was reaching unfathomable levels, and she wondered if it would ever stop rising.

The thought of losing Fiyero on top of everything else was too excruciating to entertain even for a single clock-tick, so to distract herself, she circled back slowly to where she had left Glinda's body. Looking at her friend's still form, she was overwhelmed by the worst wave of guilt she had ever felt. How could she possibly have done such a dreadful thing?! She had never intentionally killed anyone before, and the horror of it was compounded by the fact that her victim had been her best friend. Yes, Morrible had said that the only way to release Glinda from the mind-controlling spell was to kill her. But nothing the press secretary said could be taken strictly at face value as being true. Surely there was something else Elphaba could have done, some other way she could have saved her friend… Oh, if only she had taken the time to think it through properly, instead of indulging her dangerous habit of acting on impulses!

But then a glint of hope broke through the clouds of despair. The spell she had used to kill Glinda had come from the Grimmerie. Perhaps the ancient book also contained a spell that would produce the opposite effect! Braeyn had asked her what gave her the right to determine who lived and who died. Well, today, she decided, even if that right was not hers, she was availing herself of it. Quickly, she knelt next to her friend and took out the Grimmerie. Her eyes expertly scanned the lines of text as she leafed through the weathered pages, and at last they fell on the heading, _**A Spell for the Restoration of Souls**_ The restoration of souls… that was roughly equivalent to bringing people back from the dead, wasn't it? Encouraged, she read on.

_**This spell will restore to life anyone who has met an untimely death, whether from sickness, an accident or injury, or other means. They will return in full health; that is to say, in the condition they were in prior to the circumstances that led to their demise.**_

_**A word of caution, however, before using this spell. Nothing of this magnitude can be achieved without something being given in return. In order for the spell to work, the person casting it must give their soul in exchange for the one they are resurrecting. And once cast, it cannot be undone. Consider well the consequences before you proceed.**_

Elphaba swallowed hard and reread the warning the book had provided. _The person casting it must give their soul in exchange for the one they are resurrecting._ The meaning of the statement was simple enough, but she had to close her eyes as she tried to absorb the enormity and irreversibility of its implications. After a moment, she drew a deep breath. _All right, Elphaba, be rational about this. You haven't looked through the entire Grimmerie. This may not be the only spell that will bring someone back from the dead. Maybe there's one farther back that you haven't found yet._

With this thought in mind, she nodded and began to examine the pages beyond the one containing the spell she had found. However, although she studied every title and scanned each page for words that were related to her search, she did not come across anything else that would be of use to her. Perhaps another spell like this one (but without such dire consequences) existed elsewhere, but if it did, she did not have access to it at the moment, and she could not afford to waste the time it would take to hunt for it. Well, there was nothing for it. This was the only way.

If she wanted to bring Glinda back, Elphaba would have to die in her friend's place.

Merely putting the idea into a concretely expressed thought sent her mind reeling. Death… it was so final, so permanent. If she did this, there could be no going back, no deciding after the fact that she had made a huge mistake. This spell would mean the immediate end of her life. She would be gone from the world forever, never to return.

And then another thought struck her.

_Would that really be such an awful thing?_

She sat up a bit straighter in surprise as she considered this question. What reason did she truly have to go on living any longer? Her best friend was dead by her hand. The Animals, whom she had sworn to protect and who had become her friends as well, were all either captured or slaughtered thanks to her recklessness and selfishness. And the love of her life was gone, dragged away in some vain and unnecessary attempt to force him to give away her whereabouts. Even her spell had not been enough to save him. She had tried so many times in her life to make good, and all she had ended up making was a colossal mess. The only people who had ever really cared about her were gone, and all because of her. Of what use, of what worth was she to anyone now?

But Glinda… all of Oz adored her vivacious blonde friend. Everyone admired her. Everyone trusted her. She was fairly certain that the entire country would collapse from within and simply die of depression if Glinda the Good was taken from them. If _Elphaba_ died, on the other hand, there would most likely be parties and festivals all across the country to commemorate the occasion. _A celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with me,_ she thought cynically, recalling the future she had thought she had glimpsed on her first day at Shiz so long ago. No, Oz needed Glinda the Good far more than it needed the Wicked Witch of the West.

The more she thought about it, the more she began to realize that perhaps death might not be such an unwelcome thing after all. She would finally be beyond the reach of the world and its cruelties, no longer subjected to hatred, or ridicule, or guilt. Maybe she would find rest and peace at last. And after everything she had been through, some rest and peace were sounding quite appealing.

Once her decision was made, she was surprised how little fear or regret she felt about it. She knew she would not change her mind. Her path had been determined, her course set, and nothing could sway her from it now. Pushing herself smoothly to her feet, she slipped away and disappeared into her cabin, where she dug out paper, pen, and ink. She sat down at the small table and, after a moment of consideration, began to write, filling several pages with her elegant slanted script. Finally her project was complete, and she folded the pieces of paper and tucked them into an inner pocket of her cape for safekeeping.

And then there was nothing left for her to do except cast the spell, so she ventured back outside to where Glinda's body lay. The Grimmerie was still open to the page she had found, and she sat down in front of it, pulling the book closer to read the unfamiliar words more clearly. She took her friend's hand and clasped it tightly in one of her own, and used the other to keep her place among the foreign letters. After only a moment's hesitation, she drew a deep breath and recited the incantation.

Elphaba had always wondered what it would be like to know in the moments just before your death that you were about to die. And now that she knew, she really found it a very curious experience. For a few seconds, everything seemed to become crystal clear – sights, sounds, smells, sensations. But the spell's effects were quite immediate. She began to grow dizzy, and she could almost literally feel the strength ebbing from her body. She collapsed next to Glinda, the blonde's hand still held in hers, and gave in without a fight to the darkness that was rapidly overtaking the edges of her mind.

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**.: evil grin :. All I have to say is this: if you murder me now, you'll never find out what happens next. **

**The next chapter is already written. The more reviews I get, the sooner you get the aforementioned next chapter.**


	14. We're Just Two Friends

**A/N: Well, I'm not dead yet (although I have received threats of torches and pitchforks, a reenactment of "March of the Witch Hunters," and being turned into a Scarecrow, just to name a few), so I take it that finding out what happens next in the story is higher on everyone's list of priorities than punishing me for my wickedness in killing off both of our two favorite witches. That's a good little reader - I knew you'd see reason. .: cackles :.**

**This chapter is complete angsty friendship fluff from beginning to end. I just about broke down and cried as I was writing it, if that tells you anything. You have been warned.**

**Anyone who finds the (blatantly obvious) RENT reference I managed to insert and mentions it in their review will receive a virtual cookie.**

**In keeping with the theme of friendship, this chapter is dedicated to my dear friend Lauren, aka kaliawai512, in honor of the one-year anniversary of our phenomenal friendship. It's been an incredible year that I will never forget, my friend – I can never thank you enough for any of it! **

**Disclaimer: We interrupt this fanfic to bring you a special news bulletin: FAE2135 DOES NOT OWN WICKED! We now return you to your regularly scheduled fanfic already in progress. Thank you.**

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The next thing Elphaba knew, she was in a place that seemed to be very empty, except for what appeared to be hundreds of people milling around, each one glowing slightly. Were these… souls? Wait a clock-tick… if these were souls… then Glinda should be around here somewhere!

"Glinda?" she called experimentally, and was pleased to discover that, whatever sort of substance she might consist of now, she was still capable of speech.

A very familiar blonde individual detached herself from the group and came towards her. Elphaba was amused to see that the faint aura surrounding her was tinged a pale pink. "Elphie?" she asked, sounding surprised. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," she confirmed, relieved that she had found her friend so easily.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you. To bring you back."

"Back? Back where?"

"To Oz," clarified Elphaba.

"But I don't want to go back to Oz," Glinda protested, as though it was the most obvious conclusion in the world. "I like it here. It's very peaceful. And there's no Wizard or Morrible to bother me."

"But Glinda, you shouldn't be here. It's not your time to die yet."

The blonde laughed. "Oh, Elphie, how do you know when it is or isn't my time to die?"

"Because…" Elphaba sighed deeply before finishing, "Because I killed you."

Glinda's jaw dropped in shock. "What… what are you talking about?"

Her voice deeply laced with guilt, Elphaba explained what had happened. "Glinda, Morrible was controlling your mind with a spell. She was using you to get to me. The only way to break the spell was to… to kill you. So I did it. I had to, don't you see? I wasn't about to leave you like you were."

Glinda was silent for a moment before finally saying, "I… I understand, Elphie. You did what you had to do. I'm not upset, I promise." Then a new thought seemed to strike her, and when she spoke again, there was puzzlement in her voice. "But then… how did you get here, too? I didn't… I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, you didn't," Elphaba assured her quickly. "You see, after you died, I found a spell in the Grimmerie that would bring a soul back from the dead."

"Go on…"

"But it requires the person casting the spell to give their own soul in return for the one they're bringing back."

"Oh, sweet Oz… Elphie… please tell me you didn't…" gasped Glinda, her eyes going wide with shock.

"I did. And I've only got a little while before the spell works and you get sent back, so please, listen to me, Glinda, because there are some things I need to say."

"But Elphie – "

"_Please_, Glinda."

"But…"

"_Glinda._" When her friend finally silenced her protests, Elphaba nodded and began. "First of all, I know you don't like that I'm doing this. That's fine. But I wrote you a letter telling you… well, some things you'll need to know. It's in the inside pocket of my cape. I hid it so no one else would find it. I know it probably won't make you approve of my decision any more than you do now, but hopefully at least you'll understand it a little better."

"No, Elphie, I'm afraid I won't understand!" countered Glinda. "What in Oz's blessed name would make you do something like this?!"

Elphaba shrugged helplessly. "You're my best friend, Glinda. I'd do far worse than this for you. You know that."

"But… but _why?_ I've been so horrible to you lately… about Fiyero and everything… and then Nessa…"

"That's not important now."

"And what do you mean, you'd do worse than this? This is about the worst thing I can think of!"

"Death isn't always a bad thing, Glinda," Elphaba told her with a thin smile. "Sometimes it can even be a blessing."

The blonde shook her head determinedly. "Elphie, listen to me… I'll find some way to fix this…"

"You try anything of the sort, and I'll never forgive you," warned Elphaba sharply. Then, seeing her friend's injured expression, she softened slightly. "I'm tired, Glinda. Tired of being hated. Tired of being feared. Tired of hurting the people I love the most. I just want it all to end."

"Oh, Elphie…"

"Will you promise me something, Glinda?"

"Anything."

"Don't try to clear my name when you get back."

"Elphie, have you misplaced your mind? I can't just let people keep on saying all those horrendible things about you if you're… you're…" Glinda couldn't bring herself to say the last word.

"Yes, Glinda, you can, and you _will_. It's the only way it'll work."

"What will work?"

"If you try to tell them the truth, they'll only turn against you like they did to me. And I won't have it, Glinda. I've dragged too many innocents down with me already. I absolutely refuse to let you be the last of my victims. So you won't tell anyone."

"Elphie, no…"

"I thought you said you'd promise me whatever I asked."

"But this… this is just too much!"

"Promise me, Glinda." When the blonde hesitated, Elphaba repeated more forcefully, "_Promise me!_"

Frightened by the intensity in her voice, Glinda swallowed hard and nodded slowly. "All right. I promise. But I still don't understand."

The green girl gave her a sad smile. "I'm limited," she explained simply. "Just look at me, Glinda… I'm limited. All I've ever wanted was to help, but every single time I try it goes terribly wrong. I'm dangerous to everyone I care about. All my dreams, my plans, my future… they're all gone. I'm trapped, trapped like an Animal in a cage." She paused to let her eyes sweep fondly over the blonde standing before her. "And just look at you. You can do all I couldn't do. Glinda… Oz needs you. _I_ need you, to finish what I started. You can do it. Everyone loves you, just like they always have. They'll listen to you like they never did to me. _That_ is why I can't let you turn all of Oz against yourself by trying to defend me."

"But Elphie," Glinda protested feebly, "I can't do this… not without you! You're so much stronger and braver than I ever was!"

"You've got a strength and a courage of your own, Glinda. More than enough to do what needs to be done. Someday you'll see that." Then a slight smile turned up the corners of her mouth. "But surely you didn't think I'd send you off to battle Morrible and the Wizard empty-handed, now did you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to take the Grimmerie."

This, more than anything else, finally got it through to Glinda that her friend was in deadly earnest. She shook her head frantically, as though by refusing this request she could make the whole conversation unreal. Tears came to her eyes as she whispered, "Elphie… you know I can't read it…"

"Well, then, you'll have to learn," returned Elphaba, fighting back tears herself. "Because now it's up to you. For both of us. Now it's up to you…" She drew a deep breath to compose herself before adding, "You're the only friend I ever had."

"And I've had so many friends…" They both smiled slightly at Glinda's attempt at humor. "But only one that mattered." But then the blonde grew serious again. "How much longer do we have, Elphie?"

"Not much longer," Elphaba replied honestly, unable to hide her sorrow.

Tears shining in her eyes, Glinda stepped forward to take both of the green girl's hands in hers. "Elphie, what am I going to do without you? How will I go on?"

"The same way I did, and the same way you have since the day we went to the Emerald City together," Elphaba told her reasonably. "One day at a time. There's no future, no past. No day but today. You'll make it through, Glinda. I have faith in you."

"So… this… this really is… goodbye, then?"

The green girl hesitated, and then nodded slowly. "At least… for now."

"But… there's so much I want to say to you…"

"So say it."

Glinda took a deep breath, and although her lips were trembling, she managed a faint smile. "Elphie… I heard somewhere that every person we meet is sent into our lives for a reason, and each one has a lesson to teach us. The people we're drawn to are the people who will help us most to grow, if we let them, and we help them grow in return. Well, I'm not sure if I really believe that. But I do know that I wouldn't be the person I am today if I hadn't known you."

"This may very well be the last time we see each other for quite a while," Elphaba observed solemnly, laying a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "So before we part, I want you to know… Glinda, you've made such a difference in my life. It's incredible how much of me consists of things I learned from you – there's no way anyone could ever erase the mark you've left on me. And no matter what happens to either of us from now on, I know you've changed my life forever just by being in it. I'll never forget you." Both girls were crying in earnest by this time, but there was more that Elphaba needed to say, so she did her best to swallow her tears and continued, "And just to clear the air between us… I know you still blame me for… well, a lot of things. So I'm asking you to forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive, Elphie," Glinda contradicted, wiping her eyes. "I was wrong to ever blame you for any of it. _I_ should be asking for _your_ forgiveness." She paused for a moment. "And anyway, it all somehow seems terribly unimportant right now, doesn't it?"

The green girl nodded, smiling slightly through her tears. "Yes, it does," she agreed.

But then the blonde remembered something else that still lay unresolved between them. "Elphie… what happened with your sister… I never meant…"

"I know, Glin. I know. It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known what was going to happen."

"But I still – "

"Glinda, stop it. I forgive you."

"You… you do?"

"Yes. I should have done it the first time you asked me to."

At this, Glinda threw her arms around her friend, her tears flowing even harder. "Oh, Elphie, you can't expect me to just leave you here!"

"Yes, Glinda, I can, and I do," Elphaba disagreed, returning her friend's embrace. "This is the way it has to be. You have to go back. Oz can certainly get along well enough without me, but it needs you desperately."

"And what about what _I_ need, Elphie?" demanded the blonde. "I'll never be able to do this on my own! What _I_ need is for _you_ to be there with me!"

"And I will be." A hint of her characteristic smirk flashed across the green girl's face for a brief instant. "There's no way in Oz I'd leave you to handle something like this all alone. You, my dear, would singlehandedly manage to bring the country to ruin if things were left entirely up to you."

Glinda made a wry face. "My goodness, your vote of confidence is overwhelming. Really. I'm flattered."

"What's this I hear? _Sarcasm?_ Why, Miss Glinda, I'm not starting to rub off on you, am I?"

"Well, I don't seem to be turning green yet, if that's what you mean."

"If you were anyone else, I'd have to slap you for that," Elphaba informed her indignantly, but she couldn't help chuckling all the same. "But in all seriousness, Glin, I'll be looking out for you as much as I can. Before long you'll be considering yourself lucky if you can get me to leave you alone for a single clock-tick."

Glinda grinned as she replied, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Just then, the outline of the blonde's form began to waver. Her features started to blur slightly, and she seemed to be fading away. "It's time for you to go now," the green girl said quietly, embracing her friend one last time. "Take care of yourself, all right?"

"I will, Elphie," promised the blonde, returning the hug as tightly as she could. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too. But remember what I said. I'll be watching over you."

"I know you will. I couldn't ask for anyone better." Then Glinda stepped back and gave the green girl a small wave. Just before she disappeared completely, Elphaba thought she heard the blonde whisper, "Goodbye."

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**.: wipes eyes :. Hang in there and trust me just a little longer, my pretties! Things may look hopeless right now, but this isn't the end, I promise!**


	15. If We Work In Tandem

**A/N: Behold, the next installment! Thanks a million to you all for sticking with me during those three horribly depressing chapters! Hopefully this one makes up at least a bit for my doing away with our two favorite witches. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: That sound you hear is me laughing sarcastically.**

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When Glinda blinked her eyes open a moment or two later, she found that she was lying on the hard ground. She sat up slowly and looked around, puzzled, trying to figure out where she was. The last thing she remembered was being back at the palace – alone with Madame Morrible in the press secretary's private office, if her memory served her…

But wait… there _was_ something after that. She thought she recalled seeing the place where she was now. But it had been a very brief glimpse, lasting only a clock-tick or two at the most. And yet, even with only that fleeting memory to guide her, she sensed that there was something different about the scene now. Something was missing, something that had been there before… a familiar face…

_Elphie…_

Thinking the name brought a slew of new memories suddenly rushing back to Glinda. Now she recalled seeing and talking with her emerald-skinned friend, and although she still wasn't exactly sure where their meeting had taken place, the remnants of their conversation were firmly ingrained in her mind. The blonde's stomach twisted unpleasantly as the spell Elphaba had said she'd cast leaped to her memory. Glinda hoped harder than she had ever hoped for anything in her life that her friend hadn't been serious about it. She didn't know what she'd do if it turned out that the green girl had been telling the truth.

That was when she rather belatedly registered the fact that something or someone seemed to be holding onto her hand. Puzzled, she looked down, and discovered a set of long, slender green fingers curled around her own. There was no mistaking the shade of the skin. Reluctantly, Glinda let her gaze travel from the person's hand, up the black-clad arm, over the long ebony hair, and, after several long moments of hesitation, finally allowed her eyes to drift to the face that she had known she would see even before looking at it.

Glinda's mind reeled furiously as she tried to make some sense out of the sight before her. _No… she's not… she can't be… She's only sleeping. Yes, that's it. Sleeping. Or she's playing a joke on you. A cruel, heartless joke, but only a joke, and any minute now she's going to get up and start laughing at you for falling for it, and then you can kill her for making you think for a single clock-tick that she was actually… No, don't even think that word. Thinking it might make it true._

Swallowing hard, she reached out and shook her inert friend firmly by the shoulder. "Come on, Elphie. Joke's over. You can get up now." There was no response. Glinda shook her again. "Elphie, this isn't funny!" Nothing. "Elphie, stop it… you're starting to scare me…" But there was still no reaction. The blonde's eyes began to well with horrified tears, and her voice rose slightly in panic. "Oh, no… no, no, no… please…"

It seemed that Elphaba had been serious about the spell after all.

The tears that had been gathering in Glinda's eyes spilled over, and she buried her face in her hands and began to cry, her shoulders heaving with deep, heartwrenching sobs. She wept for so long that she lost track of time, until a single thought somehow managed to pierce the seemingly impenetrable cloud of her grief. Elphaba had mentioned something about having written some sort of letter and hiding it so that no one except Glinda would find it. Now where had she said she'd put it?... Ah, yes – the inside pocket of her cape. She'd tucked it there to keep it away from anyone else who might happen along.

Suddenly desperate to read whatever last words her friend had left behind for her, Glinda swallowed her tears with an effort. She wiped her eyes, sniffled once or twice, and then set about finding the document the green girl had spoken of. It didn't prove terribly difficult. Elphaba's cape had apparently fallen open when she had ended up on the ground next to Glinda, and the blonde quickly spotted the slit in the lining. Reaching into the pocket tentatively, she extracted several folded sheets of paper. Her name was penned on the outermost page in her friend's familiar script, and she unfolded the packet with trembling hands and began to read.

_Dear Glinda,_

_If you're reading this, it means that my spell worked, and that you're now safely back in Oz. It also means that I'm no longer there with you, at least not physically. I'm sure you're probably very upset by now, and wondering what in Oz possessed me to do what I did. I suppose I owe it to you to explain myself as best I can._

_The decision wasn't honestly that difficult. I know you may not believe that at first. But really, what else could I do? You're my best friend, and I certainly wasn't going to leave you dead, not when I was the one responsible for your death in the first place. And besides, imagine the effect that losing you would have on the citizens of Oz. There's not a single person anywhere who doesn't adore you. The country would never be the same if you died. __My__ death, on the other hand, will probably cause nothing but happiness. They'll celebrate it just like they did Nessa's, I'm sure, only on a much wider scale. You know, I never told you this, but I had a vision once of an enormous celebration going on throughout Oz that was all because of me. In a way, I suppose it will come true after all. _

_You mustn't blame people for being happy that I'm dead, Glinda. They don't know what we know about the Wizard and Morrible, and they're much happier living with their false ideas and preconceived notions. Don't try to change their minds about me, because they won't believe you, and you'll only end up frustrating yourself. I know all I'd have to do is ask and you would do all you could, but I'm afraid my wicked reputation is too deeply ingrained in everyone's minds by now for even all your goodness to overcome it._

_I'm sure you're still upset about my choice. It's to be expected, I suppose. But Glinda, please try not to be too sad that I'm gone, if you can help it. As they say, no one mourns the wicked, and I'm about as wicked as they come. Everyone and everything I care about, I wind up destroying in the end. It's always been that way, and now I see that it always will… unless I do something to stop it. And even if that weren't the case, I have nothing to live for now. The hideout for Animals that I worked so long and so hard to build is destroyed, and all the Animals I've gotten to know and come to care for as though they were my own family have either been captured or killed. You're dead (or you were, I suppose I should say, if you're reading this now) because of a spell that I intentionally cast on you, knowing full well what it would do. And Fiyero… oh, Oz, I don't even know where to begin. The guards dragged him off to torture him until he told them where I was, and I cast a spell from the Grimmerie to save him. But it seems to have failed. I looked everywhere for him once it was all over, but he was gone. The three most important things in my life have all been taken away in one fell swoop. Without them, I have no reason to exist. So please don't cry for my sake, my dear. I'm not sorry in the least to be dead. The only regret I have about it is that I know it's hurting you._

_Before I forget, there are a few things I'd like you to keep for me, if you don't mind. I know they'll be little consolation to you, if any, but you're the only one I'd trust to take care of them. First of all is my mother's glass bottle, as a reminder of the night we became friends and shared our secrets with each other. I'm sure you can guess where it is – in the cabin underneath my pillow, the same place I've always kept it. Second is my hat, because it was yours to begin with, and I think it's only fitting that it return to its original owner now. Next, my broom, for the day we came to the Emerald City together and met the Wizard, and because I know that no one else would be able to make proper use of it. But you're already used to flying thanks to your bubble; you won't have any trouble figuring the broom out. And finally, I want you to take the Grimmerie. You can learn to read it if you really try, I know you can. You'll need it to help you against Morrible. And you're the only person I can entrust it to and be confident that it won't be misused._

_And so… I really don't think there's much more to be said. I'll be sorry forever that things ended this way, but this was how it had to be, and neither of us could have changed it. No matter where I am or what happens to me in the future, you will always have a special place in my heart. And whenever you start to miss me, just remember this… now I am truly defying gravity, and this time there's nothing in this world or any other that can ever bring me down._

_Elphaba_

Glinda hadn't thought that she had any tears left to spend, but apparently she had been mistaken. She held the letter close to her and began to cry all over again, doing her best to make sure that none of her tears fell on the paper and smeared the ink. Everything seemed distorted and unfamiliar, not like the world she knew, and she wondered if it would ever look quite the same again.

Later that evening, the blonde huddled close to a small fire she had conjured (she might not have had much magical skill, if any, but even _she_ could manage to magick up a fire when she wanted one), shivering and trying not to think too much. Elphaba's goodbye letter was clutched firmly in one hand; she'd already read it so many times that she knew it almost by heart. In a small pile at her side were the few items her friend had left her – the green glass bottle, her old pointy black hat, her broom, and the Grimmerie. Glinda hoped Elphaba didn't mind – well, how could she, after all, since she was dead? – but she'd also taken her big black cape, only for warmth. The night was freezing, and she hadn't known what else to do. She was too confused and muddled and in shock to come up with any sort of coherent plan. Elphaba, her Elphie, was dead. It wasn't right at all! Never anywhere in her worst nightmares had Glinda imagined a world where she would survive and her best friend would not.

The recollection of how things had come to such a pass sent a dull pain through her already-broken heart. It had all been Glinda's fault. She hadn't been smart enough to see through Morrible's scheme, or strong enough to resist her spell. Morrible had made her fight Elphaba, and when Elphaba realized what was going on, she had known that the only way to break the spell's hold on the blonde was to kill her. So she had. And then she'd felt so guilty about it that she'd cast a spell to bring Glinda back, at the cost of her own life.

The words of the letter resonated in her memory, along with what Elphaba had said when their souls had met. She didn't want Glinda to be crippled by grief. She wanted her to move on and continue with her life, to use her position and influence to fight against Morrible and the Wizard. But how could she do that when Elphaba was gone? All this time since she had decided to stay behind that day in the Emerald City, the only thing that had kept Glinda going was the thought that someday she might see her green friend again. How could she possibly be brave enough to go on when she knew that Elphaba was really gone, gone for good, and was never coming back?

Glinda didn't know what to do now. She couldn't go back to the palace, at least not without someone to protect her, or else she'd soon be back under the spell of old Horrible Morrible. She smiled slightly at the clever rhyming nickname, proud of herself for thinking of it on the spur of the moment like this. But nickname or no, it certainly wasn't safe to return to the Emerald City just yet. Her first instinct would have been to try and find Fiyero simply so she wouldn't be all alone, but she had no idea where he was. Elphaba's letter had said that he'd been captured, and she'd cast a spell to save him, but she hadn't been able to find him afterwards. Glinda had looked all over, and she hadn't seen him anywhere, either. So joining him wasn't an option at the moment. And Elphaba herself certainly wasn't going to be much help now in providing any feasible suggestions.

She sighed and gazed across the fire to where she had laid out her friend's body. It had made her ache somewhere deep inside to see Elphaba crumpled on the ground like that, looking so weak and defeated. The least she could do, Glinda had told herself firmly, was to give the green girl some dignity in death. Elphaba deserved that much. So, determinedly ignoring the fact that she was touching a dead body, Glinda had rolled her onto a blanket she found and positioned her on her back. After smoothing down Elphaba's silky black hair neatly around her shoulders and straightening out her skirts, she had folded her slender green hands carefully over her stomach. Now she at least looked presentable, though presentable for whom, Glinda had no idea. She could almost hear her friend laughing at the thought. _Presentable, Glinda? Really! When have I ever been 'presentable'?_

She didn't look dead, Glinda decided now, studying her friend's face with a sad smile. No, she looked… peaceful. As if she was glad to finally be rid of all the misery she had suffered in her relatively short life. If she hadn't known better, she'd have sworn that she was only sleeping, just like Glinda had seen her do countless times when they were roomies.

Thinking of sleeping made the blonde realize that she was beyond exhausted. Who would have guessed that dying and then being brought back to life could be such tiring experiences? She felt rather guilty thinking of such an ordinary thing as sleep when her best friend was dead, but the more she tried to deny it, the more tired she became. In just a few minutes, Glinda had wrapped herself more tightly in Elphaba's cape, stretched out on the grass near the fire, and was sound asleep.

**xXxXx**

Once Glinda was gone, Elphaba remained standing for several minutes in the spot where she had bid her friend goodbye. _So… now what?_ she wondered sardonically. Was she going to simply stay here with all these other souls, or was there somewhere else they would be sent eventually? She wasn't entirely sure how the whole concept of being dead worked – it wasn't as though anyone living could speak definitively on the matter, after all, and to the best of her knowledge, no one had ever come back to provide any details. Perhaps she could find someone to ask, someone who had been here longer and might know how things were done. But before she could act on this new idea, she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Well, what do you know?" it quipped. "I always said you were going to get yourself killed one of these days, little witch. Looks like I was right."

Elphaba's eyes widened in recognition, and she turned quickly to face the speaker. "Braeyn!" she cried delightedly, overjoyed to see a familiar face, and hurried to throw her arms around the Bear.

"There, there, child," Braeyn chuckled, returning the embrace, "I'm glad to see you, too." Then she frowned. "But I'm not glad to see you _here_. It wasn't your time to die yet."

"How do you know if it was or wasn't my time to die?" asked Elphaba a touch indignantly.

"Because I know what happened – how you ended up here. And I've been sent to talk to you about it."

"What is there to talk about?"

"I thought I told you that it wasn't up to you to decide who lives or dies. Not even when it comes to yourself." The Bear cast her golden eyes briefly upwards. "I suppose it shouldn't have surprised me that you didn't listen. You never do."

Elphaba folded her arms and fixed her friend with a mild glare. "Well, if you know so much about it, then you know there was nothing else I could have done. The only way to break Morrible's spell was to kill Glinda. I wasn't about to leave her under that… that _wicked witch's_ control. And I couldn't very well leave her dead, either. Oz as a whole would curl up in a corner and die without its beloved Glinda the Good." After a pause, she added quietly, "And I could never have gone on with my life knowing that I killed my best friend. I would never have been able to bear the guilt. So you see, I had no other choice."

Braeyn nodded her understanding. "All the same, it was incredibly noble of you to do it. Very few people possess the courage and strength of character that such a sacrifice requires." Then the Bear seemed to grow solemn, more serious. Clearly she was about to come to the point of why she had been sent. "And it's that spell that I've come to discuss with you."

"What about it?" wondered Elphaba, puzzled.

"Well, ordinarily, it works very simply, or so I've been told," Braeyn explained, relaying the message she had been given by whoever had sent her. "An even exchange – one soul for another. But apparently there's an extra provision to it, one that isn't included in the Grimmerie."

The green girl raised an eyebrow curiously. "And that extra provision would be…?"

"When someone with a pure soul casts the spell out of genuine selflessness and true caring for the person they're bringing back, the condition of the spell requiring them to give up their soul is waived."

"So under those circumstances, the person who cast the spell would be sent back as well?" asked Elphaba, wanting to make sure she understood what Braeyn was telling her.

The Bear nodded her affirmation. "It's only happened maybe two or three times ever, from what I've heard. But yes, in these very few special cases, both souls are allowed to return to life."

"But… what does that have to do with me?"

"Don't try to play stupid with me, little witch," Braeyn scolded gently with a slight smile. "Surely you've realized by now why I was asked to come and tell you about it."

"Are… are you saying that I'm being sent back along with Glinda?"

"Yes, child. You're being given a very rare and very special opportunity, one that most people never get: the opportunity of a second chance. Make the most of it, Elphaba."

The instant the Bear had finished speaking, her kind furry face suddenly seemed to drift out of focus. Before Elphaba had time to protest or even wrap her mind around what was happening, everything became distorted, vague and hazy, as though she was looking at it all from underwater. She began to feel dizzy again, unable to focus on anything to stop her vision from swimming. That was her last conscious sensation before everything went black.

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Glinda was awakened quite abruptly some time after she had fallen asleep by a booted foot nudging her repeatedly in the side. "Glinda," a female voice said insistently from somewhere above her. "Glinda, wake up."

"Don' wanna giddup," slurred the blonde without opening her eyes. "Fi' more minnits…"

The persistent pokes in her side stopped, and she sensed the person taking a step back. Somehow she got the impression even without looking up that the woman had folded her arms and was regarding her with mixed annoyance and amusement. "Well, it's nice to see you missed me," she quipped dryly.

Only then did Glinda realize that she recognized that voice, that sarcastic tone, that caustic wit. Her eyes flew open, and she was on her feet in an instant. "ELPHIE!!!!!!" she shrieked ecstatically, and proceeded to launch herself at her friend and cling to her in an embrace roughly equivalent to that of a boa constrictor.

Elphaba only barely managed to readjust her balance in time to save them both from toppling to the ground. "Biology may not be my field of expertise, Glinda," she managed, returning the hug as best she could with her arms pinned at her sides, "but I'm fairly certain that a person needs their lungs if they plan to continue living."

"Oh, Elphie, stop being overdramatic!" Glinda scolded, not relinquishing her grip one bit. "I thought you were _dead_, for Oz's sake, and now you're not, so I'm going to hug you as hard as I want, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it!" She gave her friend one final squeeze for good measure before finally deciding that she had hugged the green girl long enough and hard enough and releasing her.

Finally free of the blonde's death grip, Elphaba sat back down, looking dejected. "Well, I just can't seem to do anything right," she muttered darkly.

"What are you talking about?" Glinda asked, her forehead creasing in a slight frown.

"That spell," the green girl clarified. "I wasn't supposed to wake up. I wasn't supposed to come back."

The blonde took a seat next to her friend. "Yes, that was the impression I got when you explained it to me. So what happened? How are you here?"

"Well, apparently there was another condition to the spell, one that wasn't mentioned in the Grimmerie. As it was described to me, if someone with a pure soul and honorable motives casts the spell, the requirement that they give up their soul in exchange for the one they're bringing back is lifted, and both souls are sent back."

Glinda considered this for a few moments, and then a realization dawned on her. "Elphie, you know what this means, right?" she gasped.

"Hmm… that whoever wrote the Grimmerie ought to have included that particular bit of information?" the green girl guessed, giving her a questioning look.

"No, silly! You said that the only way something like this could happen is if the spell is cast by someone with a pure soul," the blonde reminded her friend. When Elphaba's expression did not change, she elaborated, "Don't you get it? You cast the spell, and we were both sent back. That means you have a pure soul. This is definite proof that you're not wicked!"

"Too bad no one would ever believe it," Elphaba lamented cynically.

"Oh, Elphie, quit being such a killjoy!" chided the blonde. "You should be happy to have this kind of assurance! Or at least happy that you got to come back with me."

"Did it never occur to you, Glinda, that maybe I didn't _want_ to come back?"

"Don't be silly, Elphie. You don't really mean that."

"Yes, I do! I told you in my letter – I've got no reason to go on living anymore. Everything is ruined. All the Animals are dead… the hideout is destroyed… Fiyero's gone… I'm a curse to everything I touch!" Elphaba broke off and buried her face in her hands.

"That's not true, Elphie," Glinda contradicted, laying a hand loyally on the green girl's shoulder. Then, after a pause, she asked quietly, "And what about me? Aren't I a good enough reason for you to go on living?"

Elphaba looked up at her friend in surprise and gazed at her intently, as though truly seeing her for the first time. Then, slowly, the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she reached out to grip the blonde's hand tightly in her own by way of a reply. Glinda smiled back and threw her arms around the green girl once again in a hug that Elphaba returned without hesitation.

"So," Glinda asked, pulling away after a few moments, "what are we going to do now?"

"'We'?" Elphaba echoed, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, 'we'. Surely you don't think I'm going to let you go off all on your own again."

"Glinda, you of all people should know how dangerous it is to be associated with me."

"I don't care," insisted the blonde staunchly. "I chose not to come with you the first time you asked me to, and I've regretted it every single day. I'm not going to make the same mistake again."

Elphaba let out a heavy sigh. "I appreciate the thought, Glin, I really do. But I can't let you come with me. It's just too dangerous."

"Oh, yes, I'm going to be _so_ much safer back at the palace facing Morrible and the Wizard all by myself," Glinda agreed sarcastically. "Especially after Morrible figures out that she's not controlling me anymore."

"Hmm. You may have a point there," the green girl conceded grudgingly.

"So I can stay with you, then?"

Elphaba tried to think of more reasons why it would be unwise for Glinda to come with her. But try as she might, nothing persuasive came to mind. Finally she wondered, genuinely curious, "But… why would you _want_ to?"

The blonde took both of her hands as she replied, "Elphie, do you remember what you told me that day up the attic of the palace? You said that if we worked together, there was no fight we couldn't win. That we could make our dreams come true the way _we_ wanted them to."

"I remember," Elphaba allowed with a nod.

"Well, it may have taken me a while, but I think I've finally realized that I should have gotten on that broom and tried defying gravity with you. So I'm hoping that it's not too late to see if we can't make at least some of those dreams of ours come true after all."

Even as despondent as she was, Elphaba couldn't help the small spring of happiness that welled up inside her at the blonde's words. _This_ was the best friend she remembered, the best friend she had been missing since the day she left. Glinda was watching her so hopefully, waiting for her answer, that she couldn't possibly refuse. And anyway, she realized, she didn't _want_ to refuse. She was tired of constantly having to take on the world alone. Having her best friend at her side would be a welcome change. And it would also serve as a much-needed distraction from thinking too much about what had happened to Fiyero and all the Animals from her hideout.

"We'll need to go somewhere else," she mused, answering Glinda's plea without actually answering it. "Morrible knows where this place is now; she'll find us in a clock-tick if we stick around. And besides, I don't think I could bear to stay here. Not after what happened."

Glinda beamed briefly when she realized that Elphaba was agreeing to her request, but then quickly joined in the plotting. "I wouldn't want to stay here anyway, with all those dead bodies around – ugh!" she shuddered. "So where can we go?"

The green girl got to her feet and began to pace, deep in thought. Suddenly a faint recollection of a familiar voice echoed through her mind. _You'd really like Kiamo Ko, I think. It's got tunnels, secret passageways, hidden rooms – you could spend a lifetime exploring the place and still not find everything there is to find._ She stopped dead in her tracks as the idea came to her. "Kiamo Ko," she stated.

The blonde gave her a puzzled look. "What did you say?"

"We'll go to Kiamo Ko," clarified Elphaba.

"Where's that?" Glinda wanted to know, standing up as well.

"A castle Fiyero's family owns," the green girl explained. "He told me about it once. He said it isn't far from here."

"But I've been to his family's castle before, and I'm positive it wasn't called Kiamo Ko."

"Well, from what he told me, they don't actually use Kiamo Ko for anything. They live in their _other_ castle."

"Oh. Of course," nodded Glinda, as though this made perfect sense. "Well, then, to Kiamo Ko!"

The blonde handed Elphaba back the small collection of things she had gathered based on the instructions in the letter. With a grateful look, the green girl settled her hat back on her head, and then slid the Grimmerie and the small glass bottle into the satchel that still hung at her hip. Picking up the broom, she gestured for Glinda to follow her. After stopping in the small cabin only long enough to collect some supplies for the journey and a few more things that Elphaba didn't want to leave behind, the two girls climbed onto the broom and took off, Glinda clinging tightly to Elphaba from behind. Elphaba steered them westward in the direction of Kiamo Ko, wondering what they would find when they arrived.

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**Oh, come on now, you didn't honestly believe for a single clock-tick that I'd really leave Elphaba dead, now did you? XD**

**Reviews are, as always, received with great rejoicifying and festivation.**


	16. Why Does Wickedness Happen?

**A/N: Happy Halloween, everyone! And more importantly, HAPPY WICKED DAY! Hope you're all having a positively thrillifying time celebrating both!**

**This chapter is dedicated to my friend Eve, a.k.a. TheWickedWitchOfOz, who was lucky enough to be born on the very same day that Wicked opened on Broadway – even though she came along a few years before the show did! Happy birthday, my pretty! .: cackles :.**

**Disclaimer: Only in my wildest dreamings.**

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Elphaba and Glinda landed a short distance away from Kiamo Ko, and approached the castle via a stone bridge that spanned the moat. The sentry guarding the castle's enormous wooden door was rather reluctant to allow them access at first. However, once Elphaba revealed herself and informed him that she and Glinda were going to enter the castle one way or another, and that the only question up for debate about the matter was whether they would be doing it with his help or over his dead body, he reconciled himself to the situation with astonishing quickness, and let them in. Once they were inside, the rest of the sentries assumed that they had permission to be there, and did not bother them.

The girls set about exploring the castle, and soon chose two rooms, one on either side of one of the building's corner towers, to serve as their chambers. On a whim, Elphaba also decided to have a look at what was inside the tower itself. She was well-rewarded for her efforts, for at the top of a set of winding, crumbling stone stairs, she found a small circular chamber situated just beneath the eaves of the tower's conical roof. It was ironically appropriate, she thought with a grim smile as she looked around the little room – a true witch's chamber straight out of a fairy tale – and she claimed it at once as her workroom, a place where she could study and hone her sorcery skills to even greater perfection.

Selecting their rooms and establishing themselves in the castle gave Elphaba a certain sense of accomplishment. But once they were settled in, she could no longer push the thoughts of Fiyero from her mind. Up until now she had been able to focus on getting herself and Glinda away from the Animal hideout and safely installed in Kiamo Ko. But now that those tasks had been accomplished, there was nothing to occupy her or distract her. Fiyero's promise that someday he would bring her to see the castle rang in her ears, and as she went poking around, she was dismayed to find how easy it was to picture him there. And once that started, it was only a step farther to wondering how things might have been different if it had been him rather than Glinda who was there with her. But of course, she could never be certain. She could speculate as much as she liked, but that was all her imaginings would ever be – speculations. She would never _know_.

And even worse than the thought of Fiyero being dead was the knowledge that it was all her fault. If the guards had not been looking for her, they would never have gotten the idea to torture him to get the information they sought. And her desperate spell had been unable to save him. In a way, it seemed almost laughably predictable. In the moment of her gravest need, she couldn't even depend on the magical abilities that she had possessed all her life. She supposed she should have expected as much.

How foolish she had been to believe even for an instant that what they had shared could ever last! She ought to have known better than to ever let herself fall in love with him. Terrible things happened to everyone she cared about, and in a warped, twisted sort of way, it made perfect sense that the person closest to her heart would pay the highest price. How could she possibly have been so stupid, so selfish, as to endanger him so? She should never have let him leave the palace and come with her. She should have made him stay away from her; she should have been content to love him from a distance. Her affection was like poison; it destroyed anything and everything unfortunate enough to stray into its path. She knew this as clearly as she'd ever known anything. But she had still let him get close to her, close enough to touch her, hold her, love her. What was worse, she had allowed herself to love him back. And in the end her love had proven as fatal to him as it had to Nessa and (however briefly) to Glinda.

Somehow she managed to make it back to her room before she broke down. She staggered through the door, collapsed onto her bed, and buried her face in a pillow, her entire body shuddering with awful, racking sobs. She lost all sense of everything around her; the only thing she was able to focus on was her grief. At some point she became dimly conscious that Glinda was there with her, one hand resting reassuringly on her shoulder, the other moving in soothing circles over her back. Elphaba wanted to tell her friend that she knew and appreciated that she was there, but her strength of will seemed to be gone, and she was too weak even to raise her head.

Eventually her tears subsided, but they left in their wake a terrifying, utterly consuming emptiness. The void was so endless and so absolute that for days she could not even muster up the energy or willpower to force herself out of bed. She knew she was upsetting Glinda, who hovered around her looking more and more worried by the day, and she felt awful about it, but she couldn't seem to pull herself out of the darkness that had enshrouded her.

Before long, the blonde got fed up with her lethargy, and quite literally dragged her out of bed. She made Elphaba clean up, change clothes, and brush her hair, and then marched her downstairs to the kitchen, where she watched like a hawk until the green girl had finished the plate of food Glinda put in front of her. She then proceeded to prod Elphaba back upstairs to her tower workroom, ignoring all her protests, and ordered her to _do something_ instead of moping around all day. Elphaba very much resented this treatment at first, and made sure that the blonde knew it. Why didn't Glinda seem the least bit upset about Fiyero's death, she wondered petulantly, and why couldn't she just leave Elphaba alone to languish in her misery? But over time, slowly but surely, she came to discover that the more her friend forced her to do, the more she herself _wanted_ to do. It certainly wasn't easy, and it didn't happen overnight, but with Glinda's help, the darkness inside her started to lighten just a little.

**xXxXx**

One morning Elphaba was working up in her tower chamber when she heard what sounded like the beating of many pairs of wings outside the window. She ignored it at first, having grown accustomed to the presence of the crows and other birds that roamed the area. But the flapping did not dissipate or even lessen, and after a few minutes, another sound joined it – a sort of screeching, chattering noise that sounded like… monkeys? Puzzled, she looked up, and could scarcely contain her cry of surprise upon discovering that the entire flock of winged monkeys that she had freed from the Wizard's palace was hovering just outside the tower.

There was a door opposite the one leading to the stairs that opened out onto the top of the thick outer wall of the castle, and Elphaba hastened to open it so that the monkeys could come in. Once inside, they crowded around her, gibbering with excitement, and their leader, whom she recognized as the Wizard's servant Chistery, clung to her hand affectionately. They could not speak, which disappointed her, but they seemed to consider her their sole mistress. They refused to take orders from Glinda or anyone else – apparently they were so grateful to Elphaba for setting them free from their cage in the Wizard's throne room that they had come to place themselves under her command out of loyalty.

The monkeys were not unintelligent by any means, so she started out giving them small tasks to do to gauge how much they could understand. When they proved adept at carrying out these little jobs, she began to wonder if she might be able to give them bigger assignments, such as sending them out to gather news for her. But of course, asking the monkeys to bring her information would be rather useless as, being animals rather than Animals, they had no way to relay to her what they learned.

Then it occurred to her that perhaps she could help them _become_ Animals. She had helped Doctor Dillamond regain his powers of speech; maybe it would be possible to do the same with the monkeys. So she selected a handful of the brightest of the group, Chistery among them, and began to work with them, using the same process she had with her former professor. Her efforts proved successful. Her little group of students learned their lessons quickly, and before long, they had enough of a command of basic language skills to communicate in at least a rudimentary fashion. Soon she was confident enough in their abilities that she started dispatching them to find out what was going on in Oz.

Chistery returned from one of these reconnaissance missions with his little Monkey face squinched up with worry. When Elphaba asked him what was the matter, he reported that there was a small band on their way towards Kiamo Ko, commissioned by the Wizard himself to kill the Wicked Witch of the West. Glinda, of course, became nearly hysterical at the thought of anyone trying to murder her friend, but the green girl was unfazed by the news. Morrible and the Wizard had tried and failed three times now to do her in; what could possibly make them think that this attempt would succeed? However, Glinda refused to be reassured, and so to placate the blonde's fears, Elphaba promised her friend that she would keep an eye on the group.

"But how, Elphie?" wondered Glinda, looking perplexed. "It's not like you can go out and follow them every day."

"I won't have to," Elphaba replied with a cunning look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I can watch them from right here in the castle."

"I don't understand."

In answer, the green girl reached into her satchel, which was hanging from the back of the chair that sat at her worktable, and produced one of the items she had salvaged from the small cabin before they left the Animal hideout behind. It was a glass orb, perfectly round and smooth.

Glinda gaped in awe. "Elphie… is that…?"

"A crystal ball," Elphaba confirmed rather proudly with a nod as she pulled out a small wooden base, placed it on the table, and then carefully settled the orb onto it. "This was one of the first things I taught myself how to do once I left. I bought the crystal from a rather crazy old woman at a market in a little town near the border of the Vinkus. Then I did a little digging and found myself a book that explained how to use it."

"How does it work?" wondered the shorter girl, her wide eyes never leaving the glass sphere on the table in front of them. "Can it tell the future and things like that?"

"No, it can't tell the future. A crystal ball can only show things that are happening somewhere else at the present moment. And as for how it works, it's really quite simple. You only have to actually cast a spell on it once, the first time you use it. After that, all you have to do is touch it and it will show you whatever you want to see."

"Are you _sure_ it's safe?" the blonde asked with a dubious look at the crystal ball.

Elphaba nodded her assurance. "Completely. I've used it plenty of times."

"You have?"

"It was the only way I had of making sure that you and Nessa and Fiyero were all right."

Glinda blinked in surprise. "So you were watching us all that time?"

"Well, dropping in for a visit would have been a little risky, don't you think?"

"Oh, sure, when you put it _that_ way…"

Elphaba smirked, and then turned her attention back to the crystal ball. Motioning for Glinda to come and see what she was doing, she sat down in the chair and laid her hands gently on the orb. She shut her eyes for a moment, focusing all her mind on the mental command, _Show me the people the Wizard has sent to kill me_. When the blonde suddenly let out a small gasp beside her, she knew that an image had faded into being, and opened her eyes once more to gaze searchingly into the orb.

The small band of travelers that had appeared before their eyes was as motley a group as she had ever seen. There were four of them, but the central member of the party seemed to be a little girl, not more than perhaps ten or eleven years old. She looked oddly familiar, and Elphaba realized with a start that this was the same child who had absconded with her sister's enchanted footwear the morning Nessa had been killed. A fierce longing for the ruby-red shoes assaulted her briefly, but she pushed it away with an effort. The little girl was headed directly for Kiamo Ko, if Chistery's report was accurate – right into Elphaba's lap, as it were. The shoes would be hers in time, if she remained patient and didn't do anything rash. So, consciously putting aside her thoughts of the bejeweled footwear, she moved on from the child to consider the other three members of the group.

Glinda was apparently doing the same. "I recognize the little girl," she spoke up. "Dorothy, I think she said her name was. Yes, that's right - Dorothy. But who are the others? I've never seen any of them before."

"Oh, yes, you have," Elphaba contradicted her. "Although I wouldn't expect you to recognize him. He looks a little different now from the last time the two of you met."

"What in Oz are you talking about?" the blonde frowned.

The green girl pointed to one of the remaining figures, who appeared to be made entirely of metal. "That's Boq."

"Boq?!" Glinda echoed incredulously, and bent down for a closer look. "But… what _happened_ to him?"

"Well, to make a long story short, I turned him into tin to save him from another spell that Nessa cast on him after he asked if he could leave her and come to your engagement ball because I had enchanted her shoes so she could walk so he thought she wouldn't need him around anymore."

"I'm afraid nothing after 'I turned him into tin' made any sense to me."

"I'll explain it later. What _does_ make sense is why he's decided that he wants me dead. He wants revenge on me for what I did to him."

The blonde looked a bit pale at this, but nodded her understanding. "All right, then. How about the Lion?"

Elphaba studied the figure her friend had mentioned. "His name is Saryan. You wouldn't know him, but he's a close friend of mine. Fiyero and I saved him from that awful professor who replaced Doctor Dillamond when Saryan was only a cub. I found him again not long after I left, and he stayed with me at the hideout after that."

"I thought you said all the Animals there were either captured or killed in the battle," Glinda frowned.

"I thought they were. But Saryan's always been…" Elphaba cut herself off with a slight smile and amended, "Well, he's not terribly brave. I guess he must have gotten frightened and run off to hide as soon as the fighting started. I'm glad he made it out all right."

The blonde was still puzzled. "But if he's your friend, then why is he coming here with Boq and Dorothy?"

"Maybe he's angry at me for not protecting the hideout better. Maybe he met someone who turned him against me. Who knows? But there it is." No matter how she tried to hide it, the green girl could not completely mask the note of sadness in her voice at the prospect of losing yet another of her few friends.

"I'm sure there's another explanation for it, Elphie," Glinda protested, laying a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "If he's been your friend for that long, I don't think his opinion of you could have changed so completely, or so quickly."

Elphaba chose not to reply to this display of loyal optimism, and instead returned her gaze to the crystal ball, now focusing her thoughts on the last of the four travelers. But try as she might, she could not think of any connection she could possibly have to a walking, talking scarecrow. Well, Scarecrow, she corrected herself mentally, if he was the thinking, feeling being he appeared to be. She racked her brain, but did not manage to come up with any plausible explanation as to who he was or why he had chosen to join up with Dorothy and the rest of her companions. Finally she gave the effort up with a philosophical shrug. She'd find out the Scarecrow's motivation soon enough once the little band of witch hunters arrived at Kiamo Ko.

**xXxXx**

A few days later, Glinda was lying rather listlessly on her bed, bored to tears and trying to think of something to do, when suddenly a sound reached her ears that she had never heard before. It sent shivers racing down her spine as she sat up, trying to tell where it had come from. Even though the sound was utterly foreign to her, she knew at once what it was, and it chilled her to the core.

Elphaba had screamed.

Elphaba _did not_ scream. It was as simple as that. She hadn't screamed when they discovered a bug or a mouse in their room back at Shiz. She hadn't screamed the day they met the Wizard and both of their lives changed forever. She hadn't screamed when she learned that her sister was dead and Glinda was behind it. She hadn't screamed when the Animal hideout she had worked so long and so hard to build had been destroyed and all the Animals killed or captured. She hadn't even screamed in her grief over losing Fiyero. She sobbed, she cursed, she raged, she glowered, she fumed, she brooded, but never before had she just plain hauled off and _screamed_. But this had been a genuine, nothing-held-back, honest-to-Oz _shriek_. A wordless cry of horror, fury, fear, and hopeless despair all rolled into one. And Glinda was fairly certain that it was the most utterly terrifying thing she had ever heard. Something truly dreadful must have happened for Elphaba to make that awful, bone-chilling sound.

The blonde sat frozen in indecision for a moment, unable to make up her mind whether she should go and find out what was going on, or leave the green girl to deal with whatever-it-was on her own. Elphaba never appreciated unwanted interference in her affairs, after all. But then she heard a tremendous crash, and that decided her. No matter what the new trouble was, she wasn't going to let Elphaba hurt herself. So she hopped up off her bed and rushed out into the hall to pinpoint the direction of the commotion. It wasn't difficult to do. The door that led up to Elphaba's tower was slightly open, and Glinda lost no time in dashing up the stairs to the small chamber where she was sure she would find her friend.

However, upon first glance, the tower room appeared to be unoccupied. It was in a state of disarray – the papers on the worktable were everywhere, and although the crystal ball still appeared to be showing an image, the chair that the green girl usually sat in as she studied it had been upended and lay several feet away, as though she had risen in a hurry. Nearby, a tall freestanding metal candelabrum had toppled to the ground – so _that_ was the crash she had heard. The candles' flames had guttered and died against the floor of the chamber, leaving nothing but small, rapidly-congealing pools of spilled wax in their wake.

It was only then that Glinda realized her friend was still in the room after all. Elphaba was huddled against the opposite wall from the worktable, as far away from the crystal ball as she could get, her dark eyes wide and terrified, shuddering so violently that the blonde could see it even from the doorway.

"Elphie? Elphie, what's wrong?" she demanded frantically, her heart beginning to beat faster as she hurried across the room and knelt down to pull her friend into a reassuring embrace. "Elphie, what happened? What is it?"

"Those eyes… oh, Oz, those eyes…" the green girl whispered hoarsely, her gaze fixed on the glowing orb across the room. "Oh, Glinda, what have I done?"

"What? What eyes? What are you talking about, Elphie? What did you see? You have to tell me what's going on!"

In response, Elphaba slowly lifted a trembling hand and pointed for a moment at the crystal ball, a wordless directive to the blonde to look and find out for herself. Glinda was extremely reluctant to leave her friend's side when she was in such a state, but she _had_ to know what she was dealing with here. So she stood up and crossed the room to peer cautiously into the crystal ball.

The scene was rather blurry and out-of-focus, but when she tentatively rested her hands on the smooth orb, it quickly became sharp and clear. There were Dorothy and her companions, plain as day. That was no surprise. Elphaba kept tabs on their progress every day via the crystal ball; it was not unusual in the least for her to be watching them. So what had she seen this time that had sent her into such a state of shock? Frowning slightly, the blonde tried a mental urging to the image to bring her closer to the foursome, and it obeyed. She studied each one intently.

_All right, Glin, you can figure this out,_ she told herself firmly. _Take it one person at a time. Now, Elphie was looking at something that really upset her. Dorothy…? No, Dorothy's too young and innocent. What could she possibly have done to make Elphie react like that? Well, then, it has to be one of the other three. The Lion…? No, she's known him since he was just a cub; she wouldn't be that shocked by anything he did. The Tin Man, then…? No, no, she knows Boq, too. And besides, even if he _is_ heartless now, what could possibly be the least bit frightening about _Boq? _All right, then, that leaves the Scarecrow._

Glinda's frown deepened. Determinedly ignoring the thought of the wrinkles she was surely creating for herself later in life, she focused all her attention on this last, most mysterious member of the party. _What do we really know about him? Nothing. Elphie had no idea of who he might be or why he wants her dead. So… maybe she figured it out? Yes, yes, that must be what happened – she finally uncovered the true identity of the Scarecrow, and it gave her a horrible shock. All right, well done, you've solved half the puzzle. But then _how_ did she figure it out, and who is he that finding it out shook her up so badly?_ Almost as soon as she thought the next two logical questions, the answer to the first one came to her. _She was saying something about someone's eyes a moment ago,_ she recalled slowly. _Right, then, the eyes it is._ She silently commanded the orb to take her even closer to the Scarecrow, so that all she could see of him was two eyes that filled the crystal ball. A small whimper issued from behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder in time to see Elphaba quickly draw her knees up to her chest and bury her face in her skirt, as though trying to block out the image. Confident now that she was on the right track, Glinda turned back to the orb and began to study the Scarecrow's eyes, which were now somewhat bigger than life-sized. They were clearly human, a lovely and rather startling shade of brilliant sapphire blue. Suddenly she got the very uncomfortable feeling that she had seen eyes this exact blue before. She thought they had even sparkled like the Scarecrow's seemed to… But whose eyes had they been?

Without warning, a memory from long ago replayed itself in Glinda's mind…

"_So, what's the most swankified place in town?" Fiyero asked casually from his perch on the base of the gigantic statue of the Wizard that stood in the courtyard of Shiz University._

"_That would be the Oz Dust Ballroom," Galinda informed him immediately. She took great pride in knowing exactly where the best places were to see and be seen._

_The prince from the Vinkus grinned. "Sounds perfect!" he declared, his blue eyes dancing…_

And all at once, with startling suddenness and astonishing certainty, she knew. She knew whose eyes those were staring back at her out of the crystal ball. She knew why Elphaba had screamed, and why she was now collapsed in a nearly incoherent heap on the other side of the room. She felt like doing a little screaming and collapsing of her own.

Glinda slowly backed away from the orb until she ran into the far wall, and then sank down next to her friend in something of a daze. "But… I don't understand… I thought he was… how did he…?"

"It was my spell," Elphaba said quietly, in a voice terrifyingly empty of all emotion. "It had to have been. When the soldiers grabbed him and started to drag him off after the battle… I knew what they were going to do to him… so I cast that spell on him to try and save him from what I knew was coming. I was so panicked… I didn't know what exactly it would do. I looked everywhere for him afterwards, but he was gone. I assumed it hadn't worked after all… but…" She broke off and gestured again to the orb on the worktable, letting the images there finish what she left unsaid.

"Now Elphie," Glinda began hesitantly, "let's not get upset here…"

"_Not get upset?_" Elphaba repeated with a harsh, bitter laugh. "Glinda, how can I possibly not be upset? Just look what I did to him!"

"At least he's alive," the blonde pointed out meekly. "That's more than we'd hoped for up until now."

Elphaba scoffed dismissively. "Yes, he's alive, all right. Alive, and on his way here with three other people who intend to kill me!"

Glinda couldn't deny that her friend had a point there. After a moment she offered, "Well… maybe now that we know he's still alive, you can find some way to… to turn him back."

"Glinda, you've seen how well the spells I've cast have worked up to this point."

"They _have_ worked, Elphie. All of them. Just… maybe not in the ways you've wanted them to."

"What good is magic if it doesn't do what you want it to do?"

Glinda made several more attempts to get her friend to look on the bright side of the situation, but to no avail. Elphaba would not be consoled. She seemed to think that she completely deserved this new wave of guilt and torment, given what her spell had done to Fiyero, and was apparently determined to embrace it. Nothing Glinda said made any headway in persuading her otherwise. Finally the blonde was forced to give up and concede defeat. She hated to leave her friend alone at a time like this, but she obviously wasn't providing much in the way of comfort, and there was no point in wasting her energy if Elphaba wasn't going to listen to her. So she stood and descended the steps back downstairs slowly and quietly, casting one last worried glance over her shoulder at the green girl as she went.

Elphaba remained in a heap on the floor for some time after Glinda left, trying to wrap her mind around this latest awful plot twist in the tragedy that her life had become. She could have dealt with Fiyero being dead. It would have been terrible, of course, and she would have missed him desperately for the rest of her life, but although it had taken some time, she had been starting to cope. But realizing what her spell had done to him, combined with the thought that he hated her for it, hated her enough to want her dead, was too much. The crushing feeling of black despair was beginning to envelop her again, and this time she knew she would not have the strength of will to fight it off. She was so tired of constantly having to struggle to keep herself from being pulled back into the darkness that had consumed her during their first days at Kiamo Ko. Well, this was the last straw. She was not going to fight it anymore. She refused. The darkness was going to beat her eventually; she might as well surrender now and make its victory less painful.

"All right, enough, so be it!" she growled, climbing stiffly to her feet. "I'm through trying to do good! From now on, let me be what they all think I am – _wicked!_"

With this declaration, it was astonishing how much easier everything became. No longer did the darkness seem to be oppressing her. In fact, it now seemed to be giving her new energy and strength. She no longer felt compelled to try to avoid living up to her wicked reputation. As the Wizard himself had once said to her, you have to give the people what they want. And if the citizens of Oz wanted a Wicked Witch, then it was a Wicked Witch they were damn well going to get!

One of the first things to be done away with under her new attitude was her resolve to wait for young Dorothy to bring Nessa's shoes to her. "I've been patient long enough," she decided crossly. "I can't wait forever to get those shoes!" So she shouted for Chistery. "Take a few of the others, and go get that girl and her dog and bring them here to me," she directed him when he loped into her workroom to answer her summons. "I want her alive and unharmed. And take special care of the ruby slippers – I want those most of all! Now fly! Fly!"

Chistery did not need to be told twice. In only a minute, he had gathered up a couple of his companions and given them their orders, and then the small band of monkeys flapped off to carry out Elphaba's bidding.

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**...Wow. That was rather intense. I don't think I was planning to get that intense when I started writing the chapter.**

**Reviews are much appreciated, dearies.**


	17. Looking At Things Another Way

**A/N: Please forgive the long time between updates. School reared its ugly head, and it's taken me until now to bludgeon it back into submission.**

**I decided to give Elphaba and Glinda a break for a little while, since the past… .: counts :. … four chapters have been exclusively about them. So this chapter is back to Fiyero's POV. It takes place right around the same time as the end of the last chapter.**

**For the purposes of this story, I have changed the canon WoO timeline around a bit. I kind of had to – I had Fiyero still being with Elphaba after the scene at the crashed house, and he didn't even become the Scarecrow until long after Dorothy arrived in Oz, so the Scarecrow couldn't have been the first person she met. So in my version of things, Dorothy went all the way to the Emerald City by herself, where she met the Wizard and Morrible. They assigned the Tin Man to travel with her on her quest to kill the Witch. Fiyero and Saryan were elsewhere, and did not meet up with them until after Dorothy and the Tin Man were already on their way to kill Elphaba. Get it? Got it? Good.**

**Finally, this chapter is dedicated to my friend The Phantom's Muse, in the hope that it will make the anniversary of her birth a day of much rejoicing. Many happy returns, dearie!**

**Disclaimer: I am Greg, Steve, and Winnie all rolled into one fantastically amazing person, and I own it. Yep. You heard me. _I own it._ (And if you actually believed that for a single clock-tick, you clearly do not understand the concept of sarcasm.)**

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Nights this time of year were chilly when spent out in the open, and darkness came early, making the small band of travelers grateful for the fire they were able to kindle. Two of them curled up next to the small blaze gratefully and dozed off almost at once, and a third sat down near them, the firelight glinting off his metal skin. He did not really _need_ to sleep, as the two next to him did, but that didn't mean he couldn't rest every now and then. The fourth and final member of the party edged away from the flames cautiously, having recently developed a very strong aversion to fire of any sort, and volunteered to take the first watch guarding their small camp while the others slept.

Fiyero had been certain when the guards dragged him off on Glinda's orders that he was in for it. He hadn't regretted his choice for a single moment. His purpose had been achieved – Elphaba had gotten away from the soldiers. Of course, he had known even before he acted what the consequences of his desperate plan would be, but he truly hadn't cared. All that mattered was that she was all right. He would die before he'd let them drag her back to the palace dungeon and torture her again. And he had very nearly gotten the chance to prove it.

Mercifully, he didn't remember most of what had gone on while he was in the guards' custody; his memories of those hellish minutes went no farther than the knowledge that there had been vast amounts of searing, white-hot pain that engulfed his entire body. He didn't specifically recollect losing consciousness, but he must have at some point, because the next thing he remembered was waking up to discover that he was alone and that his body felt oddly light.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that his new state of being was Elphaba's doing. Being a Scarecrow had certainly taken some getting used to, but, being the naturally optimistic person that he was, Fiyero had determinedly chosen to look on the bright side of the situation. He was still alive, which was far more than he would have been if Elphaba hadn't somehow learned that he was in mortal danger and intervened. She had saved his life, nothing less. And so, after getting his bearings, he had set off to see what he could do about finding her.

As it turned out, the first living being he had encountered was not Elphaba, but Saryan. He discovered the Lion hidden deep in the trees, cowering with his paws over his eyes and whimpering like a cub. Once Fiyero had convinced the Animal of his identity (which had taken quite some time), Saryan had confessed, sounding terribly ashamed of himself, that he had run for safety the moment the fighting had begun. Fiyero had done his best to console the distraught Lion, assuring him that Elphaba wouldn't be angry with him for running away. In fact, he had reasoned, given what had happened to the rest of the Animals, she would probably be overjoyed to see that he was all right. Finally Saryan accepted his reassurances and calmed down, and the two set off together in search of Elphaba.

At first, they had despaired of ever finding her. They had no idea where she had gone, and she was notoriously skilled at disappearing. But then they had met Dorothy and the Tin Man, who had been sent along with her from the Emerald City as a traveling companion. When the girl informed them that she had been sent by the Wizard of Oz himself to kill the Wicked Witch of the West, Fiyero and Saryan had realized they had gotten the break they desperately needed. They joined Dorothy and the Tin Man, and the pair of Witch-hunters became a quartet.

The Scarecrow and the Lion had no intention of actually allowing any harm to be done to Elphaba, of course. They both knew that the Tin Man was actually Boq the Munchkin, and they secretly resented all the hateful things he said about the green girl. However, challenging him would mean revealing their identities and relationships to Elphaba, which was something that they had decided they could not risk just yet. Traveling with Dorothy and Boq was the most convenient way to get to Elphaba, and besides, Fiyero and Saryan had no intention of letting the two people bent on her destruction near her without them being present. They could not afford for Boq to chase them off because they were sympathetic to the person he and Dorothy were supposed to kill. So they swallowed their anger at the Tin Man and endured his insults to Elphaba as best they could.

And so the days had passed, and now here they were, camped out for the night in the woods not far from Kiamo Ko. The irony in the fact that Elphaba had chosen to go there, of all places, was not lost on Fiyero. However, it was too painful to think about, what with the memory of the promise he had made to her that he would take her there someday, so he did his best to ignore it, and continued his methodical pacing around the perimeter of their camp.

A heavy hand was laid on his shoulder, and he turned to see Boq standing there. "The fire's getting low. I'm going to cut more wood," the Tin Man informed him.

"All right," Fiyero agreed. "I'll go sit with the others and keep watch from there."

Boq nodded his approval and wandered off, and Fiyero went over and took a seat near the sleeping Dorothy and Saryan, settling himself as close to them as his wariness of the dying fire would allow. He hadn't been there for more than a minute when he sensed someone else next to him.

"Scarecrow?" a small voice said, and he turned his head to see that the girl had gotten up and moved to sit next to him

"Dorothy? What are you doing up?" he wondered in surprise. "You ought to be asleep. The Tin Man and I might be able to go on without rest, but you can't."

"I know," she conceded, "but I can't sleep." After a moment's pause, she asked, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"I don't see why not," he acquiesced. "But is there some reason why it can't wait until morning?"

"Well, I think I need to talk to you alone." She glanced around to make sure no one else was listening, and then lowered her voice as she explained, "I've got a feeling Tin Man wouldn't like it if he heard what I want to talk about."

His interest captured, Fiyero nodded. "All right, then. Go ahead, I'm listening."

"It's this task the Wizard gave me," the girl informed him hesitantly. "The whole killing-the-Witch thing."

"What about it?" wondered Fiyero.

She gave a deep sigh and admitted, "Well, it's just… I don't know if I'm doing the right thing."

He was very glad to hear that she was having second thoughts about going through with the Wizard's assignment, but managed to keep his face impassive. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, killing the Witch is the only way the Wizard will help me get home," she began, as though reminding herself of the reasons she had agreed to the Wizard's proposal in the first place. "And if she killed that lovely Glinda lady like he and his press secretary told me she did – "

"I don't mind telling you, I have my doubts about that," he interjected matter-of-factly.

Dorothy blinked. "How could there be any doubt? The Wizard himself said it was true. And Tin Man's been going on about it the entire time I've known him. Why, if I didn't know better, I'd think he had some personal reason for being upset about it – aside from her being Glinda the Good, I mean. What would be the point in him getting so… so bent out of shape, if you'll pardon the pun, over something that never really happened?"

_Because that's just how Boq __is_ he wanted to snap. _Nessa taught him well._ But he quickly got his temper under control and merely countered, "Well, how exactly does the Tin Man know what happened to Glinda? Whatever it was, I highly doubt he was there to see it. Why, the whole story of her death might be nothing more than a rumor. Just because someone has disappeared, it doesn't necessarily mean that someone's killed them, you know."

"Well, yes, that's true," conceded the girl. Then she gave him a shrewd look that reminded him oddly of Elphaba. "For someone without a brain, you sure are awfully smart sometimes."

He shrugged modestly. "Everyone has their moments of intelligence, I suppose, even if their head's full of nothing but straw."

Dorothy let out a small giggle before returning to the topic of their discussion. "I'm just saying that if – _if_ – the Witch did kill Glinda, then maybe she really is wicked, and maybe she does deserve to die. It's just that…"

"What?" he prompted, encouraging her to share the reason why she was suddenly uncertain about what she had been told to do.

"Well… I just don't think I can do it. I feel simply awful about killing her sister with my house, and that was an accident. I don't think I could live with myself if I killed someone on purpose. My Auntie Em would be simply horrified."

"That's something to consider, I suppose."

"And besides, even if she _is_ wicked, I don't really see how I have any right or responsibility to be the one that punishes her for it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that she should be allowed to get away with doing bad things. But I don't understand why the Wizard asked _me_ to kill her instead of anyone else. For that matter, I don't understand why the Wizard doesn't just do it himself, if he's as powerful as everyone says."

"Maybe he's afraid of her," he remarked, offering what he knew to be the truth as nothing more than a simple guess.

"The Wizard, afraid of the Witch?" Dorothy echoed, sounding genuinely shocked by the notion. "But he's the Wonderful Wizard of Oz! I know she's done some awful things, but still…"

"What awful things?" interrupted Fiyero, thoroughly sick and tired of hearing Elphaba maligned. It wasn't until it was too late that he realized he had spoken the question aloud, and he mentally kicked himself for giving his true colors away.

But apparently the girl hadn't even noticed his mistake; she seemed to have taken it as a genuine question on his part. "Well, just look at poor Tin Man," she told him. When he did not show any signs of comprehension, she exclaimed, "Oh, that's right! I forgot you weren't with us when I first met him and he told me his story. He wasn't always made of tin, you know. He used to be a human being. But the Witch's sister kept him locked up in her home, and the Witch turned him into tin to help her sister keep him prisoner."

"But that's not how it happened at all!" Fiyero protested indignantly before he could stop himself.

"How would you know?" asked Dorothy, giving him a strange look.

Fiyero instantly realized that this error was even worse than the one he had made a few moments ago. "Well… I… er… that is…" he stammered, trying his hardest to quickly come up with a way to explain this second mistake.

But if Dorothy had missed his first slip-up, she had certainly caught this one, and she wasn't going to let him get away with it. "You know her, don't you?" she asked quietly. "You know the Witch. Or you did, at some point."

Her tone was innocent enough, but the simple statements struck him as more like accusations. Well and truly trapped, he had no choice but to admit with a defeated sigh, "Yes, I know her."

"I thought so," Dorothy nodded, giving him a slight smile. "You know, I've thought for a while now that you knew more about her than you let on. You don't ever say anything bad about her like Tin Man does." At this point, Fiyero fully expected her to leap up and go running to find Boq to tell him that the Scarecrow was on the Witch's side. But to his great relief and even greater surprise, she stayed where she was and requested, "Tell me about her."

Still slightly shocked that she had accepted his admission so calmly, he gave the girl a searching look. But it appeared her request had been sincere. So he thought for a moment. Then he realized that he didn't know where to begin. There was so much to Elphaba, so many complexities and hidden layers, that anything he could say would barely be scratching the surface. It would take ages to even attempt to describe her fully, and to leave anything out would be doing her an injustice. And besides, how was he supposed to go about describing the love of his life to someone who didn't know the first thing about her?

Dorothy seemed to sense his dilemma, for she suggested helpfully, "You could start with her name." Then she paused for a moment before asking rather uncertainly, "She _does_ have a name, doesn't she?"

"Of course she does," he confirmed, hiding his slight annoyance that the girl could possibly believe otherwise. "It's not like she's gone around all her life being called 'the Witch,' you know."

"Well, no, I suppose not," she agreed thoughtfully. "All right, then, what's her name?"

"Elphaba. Her name is Elphaba."

"What's she like?"

Fiyero could have replied to that question in any one of a thousand different ways. But he elected to answer with the facts that Dorothy would most need to know before they arrived at the castle. "Well, she has green skin. That much of what people say about her is true, at least. And so is what they say about her having magical powers. But that's about all the truth there is to any of the rumors that people spread. She would never intentionally use her magic to hurt anyone, unless they were threatening someone she cared about."

Dorothy furrowed her brow. "How can you be so sure?"

"Trust me," he maintained. "If you knew her like I do, you'd know I'm telling the truth."

"Well, all right," acquiesced the girl, although she still looked a bit skeptical. "How did you meet her?"

"We went to university together. I dated her roommate, who also happens to be her best friend."

"She has a best friend? Who is it?"

"Well, her name was Galinda back then. But now she goes by Glinda. You probably know her better as Glinda the Good."

She gaped at him, her face the very picture of shock. "Glinda the Good is best friends with the Wicked Witch of the West?!"

"They were friends long before any of that 'Wicked Witch of the West' nonsense got started," he explained. "Some name-calling and a few nasty rumors weren't going to destroy their friendship."

"So… she really wasn't any different than anyone else!" realized Dorothy, sounding positively astounded to discover the fact. "She went to university, and had friends…" Then her face became a mask of puzzlement. "But if she was just a regular person, how did she become… wicked?"

"That's a pretty long story."

"Well, it's not like we have anything else we have to do at the moment."

He gave her a skeptical look. "You _really_ want to know?"

"Of course I do. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't," the girl pointed out reasonably.

Fiyero conceded that point with a shrug. Then he sat back and studied Dorothy carefully for several moments. Could he really trust her? Did he dare tell her the truth? He finally decided that he _did_ dare. Someone besides him, Saryan, and Glinda ought to know the real story. So he settled himself more comfortably and began to talk. "It all started a few years ago at Shiz University…"

He told her everything. He began with Elphaba and Glinda's friendship and talked about Elphaba's keen interest in Animal rights, mentioning the day he had helped her spirit Saryan away from the cruel new history professor, and then moved on to the invitation Elphaba had received from the Wizard. After that, he described the girls' meeting with Oz, using details he had learned from Glinda after the fact – Elphaba being asked to cast a spell from the Grimmerie, inadvertently giving the Wizard's monkey servants wings, and being declared wicked when she had run away rather than work for him after learning that he was the one behind the oppression of the Animals. Then, although that would have sufficiently answered Dorothy's question, he found himself continuing, talking about his sham of a relationship with Glinda, then finally running into Elphaba again, leaving the palace with her, and the time they had spent together. He briefly described the battle at the Animal hideout, what had happened afterwards, and how he had ended up becoming the Scarecrow.

"…And then we ran into you and the Tin Man on the road, and you know the rest," he finally finished.

"Oh, my…" breathed Dorothy, her eyes wide. "Oh, that's so sad!"

"Wait a minute… you believe me? Just like that?" he asked in surprise. He had hoped she would accept what he had told her eventually, but he had been anticipating that it would take some convincing on his part.

But apparently no convincing was going to be necessary, because the girl immediately nodded. "Of course I do, Scarecrow," she assured him. "Nobody could just make up a story like that." Then her forehead wrinkled slightly, as though a question had just occurred to her. "If you used to be human, then you must have a name, too. What is it?" At his questioning look, she explained, "I'd like to call you by your name, since you've got one, instead of having to say 'Scarecrow' all the time."

"I'm Fiyero," he introduced himself, suddenly understanding how much it must mean to Elphaba to have anyone call her by name rather than the title that had been forced upon her.

Dorothy smiled widely. "Pleased to meet you, Master Fiyero."

"Likewise," he replied, returning her smile. But he quickly grew serious again as he reminded her, "You can't call me that when Boq is around, though. Remember, Saryan and I don't want him knowing who we are. When we're all together, it's got to be 'Scarecrow,' 'Tin Man,' and 'Lion,' just like always. And Elphaba is 'the Witch.' Things could get ugly if Boq suspects that any of us are on her side."

"Right," she nodded solemnly. "I'll remember." Then she let out a sad sigh. "It must be so hard for you."

"What?"

"Being separated from her. Not even knowing if she knows you're still alive. You must miss her terribly."

"Well, yes, of course I miss her. More than anything." He heaved a sigh of his own. "I guess this proves she and I are meant to be together – I never felt like this when I was away from Glinda."

"My neighbor Madeline just got married a few months ago, and she and her husband just hate to be away from each other," Dorothy offered. "Madeline says it's because they're soulmates, like their souls are somehow connected, and so when they have to be separated, neither of them feels whole until they're back together again."

Fiyero thought about this idea for a moment or two, and then nodded. "That describes it just about perfectly," he affirmed, liking the description.

"Well, don't you worry," admonished the girl, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It won't be much longer until we get to Kiamo Ko. Then you'll get to see her again, and I just know she's going to be so glad to see you, too. Everything's going to work out just fine, you'll see."

"Thanks, Dorothy," he said gratefully, hoping those two small words expressed how much the encouragement meant to him. Then he asked jokingly, "So, no more of this Witch-killing business?"

She made a face and shook her head. "Goodness, no! I never wanted the job in the first place. And now that I know the truth about her… well, I couldn't possibly do any such thing."

"Glad to hear it," Fiyero smiled approvingly.

But then a new thought occurred to Dorothy, and her face fell. "But wait… how am I supposed to get the Wizard to send me home if I don't bring him proof that the Wicked Witch of the West is dead?"

He tried to come up with an answer that would satisfy her, and, failing miserably, offered instead, "I'm sure we'll think of something. Elphaba's wonderful at coming up with plans for situations like this. And besides, I think she's probably got a better chance of being able to send you back to Kansas than the Wizard ever would."

"You're probably right there," she conceded. She was about to say something else, but it was interrupted by a large yawn. "Well, I'm suddenly all worn out. I think I'll go back to bed now, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," he assured her. "Sleep well."

"Goodnight. And thanks for talking with me."

"Anytime."

Dorothy quickly wrapped her arms around him in a brief, friendly hug, and then got up to wander back over to the spot where she had been curled up before. Fiyero watched her until he was certain that she was asleep, more relieved than he could possibly describe that he had managed to get her to accept the truth. Then the Tin Man returned and piled more wood on the fire, causing the dying embers to flame back into life. The Scarecrow stood and moved uneasily away from the newly-rejuvenated blaze, and went back to patrolling the perimeter of the camp until morning arrived.

Dorothy had certainly been right about one thing: it would not be much longer at all before they arrived at Kiamo Ko. In fact, the very next day, Fiyero began to recognize the landscape. By afternoon they had plunged into a dense forest that, if he remembered correctly, grew almost all the way up to one wall of the castle. However, he had _not_ remembered said forest being as dark and forbidding as this one seemed to be. And he was clearly not the only one getting an unpleasant feeling the farther in they ventured. Dorothy stayed close by his side, Saryan seemed to be growing more nervous with every step they took, and even Boq seemed to be a bit off his mettle, as it were.

The trees seemed to close in around them, and if they hadn't known better, the foursome would have sworn that the blasted things were moving to block the path behind them so they couldn't get away. The thick carpet of leaves on the ground deadened their footsteps, and the air was still and stiflingly thick. It absorbed the sounds of their voices, making them faint and flat-sounding, and soon their attempts to distract themselves with conversation died out. The only noise to be heard was the wind rattling the bare branches of the trees and the eerie calls of unseen birds.

They continued on in this manner for a while, until Dorothy finally decided to try once more to break the oppressive silence. "I do believe there's spooks around here," she declared in a fearful whisper, looking around.

"That's ridiculous. Spooks! That's silly," Boq scoffed, attempting to sound unafraid. The intended result was unfortunately spoiled by the way his voice shook.

"Don't _you_ believe in spooks?" Saryan asked Boq, his anxiety causing him to stammer a bit.

"No. Why – " But whatever the Tin Man had been about to say had been cut off by a cry of surprise and dismay as he was suddenly sent flying into the air by what seemed to be nothing at all. He came crashing back down to the ground a moment later, shaken but unharmed, and Fiyero and Dorothy quickly put aside their shock and hurried to help him up.

Saryan, on the other hand, stayed rooted to the spot where he stood, clutching his tail in both hands and trembling from head to foot. Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, he muttered over and over, "I _do_ believe in spooks, I _do_ believe in spooks, I do I do I do I do I _do_ believe in spooks…"

Rolling his eyes, Fiyero went over and grabbed the Lion by the shoulders, which caused him to flinch and yelp in fright. "Cut that out, will you?" he scolded him good-naturedly. "There's no such thing as spooks, and you know it." Then he gave Saryan a significant look and mouthed the word 'Elphaba.' To Fiyero, at least, it was obvious that it hadn't been any spook that had hurled Boq skyward. No, this had to have been a spell of some sort that Elphaba had put there, something akin to the traps she had once mentioned having set up around the Animal hideout. Thankfully the Lion took his meaning and calmed down at once.

They were about to continue on their way. But then Dorothy happened to glance up at the sky in the direction of Kiamo Ko and gasped. "Look at that!" she cried, pointing. "What are they?"

The others followed her gaze, and saw several winged creatures flying quickly towards them. Too puzzled by the creatures' sudden appearance to consider that they might not have been friendly, the travelers stood staring up as they came closer and closer. "I'm not sure exactly," began Boq, "but they look like…" He paused and squinted to get a better look, and his voice betrayed his surprise when he finished, "…_winged_ _monkeys?_"

"Winged monkeys?" echoed Saryan, bewildered. "Don't be silly. Monkeys don't have wings."

"Well, these do! See for yourself!"

But Fiyero was not listening to them. The instant Boq had uttered the phrase 'winged monkeys,' he had known exactly what was going on. There was only one person who could possibly be behind a band of flying primates.

It did not occur to him until it was too late that the monkeys had not been dispatched as a welcoming committee. In another moment, they had landed and seized Dorothy by whatever parts of her they could get hold of. And before he could do anything to stop them, they had launched themselves into flight again, carrying the shrieking girl along for the ride.

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**You know what to do now!**


	18. That Wretched Little Farm Girl

**A/N: Happy New Year to one and all! **

**Back to Elphaba and Glinda's POV now. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I received many wonderful Christmas presents. Unfortunately, the rights to Wicked were not among them, so I still do not own it. .: sigh :.

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Elphaba's new demeanor did not go unnoticed by her blonde friend. Glinda observed the change in the emerald-skinned girl with great trepidation, unsure of quite how to handle this new Elphaba. On the one hand, she did seem more engaged, more interested and involved in life than the blonde had yet seen her since their arrival at Kiamo Ko. On the other hand, she was cold and stern, not like the girl Glinda had come to know and care for when they were roommates at Shiz. Nothing seemed to truly make her happy anymore; the blonde hadn't seen her give a single genuine smile since the day they had figured out that the Scarecrow with Dorothy was really Fiyero.

Elphaba's attitude now was reckless, even dangerous, and it made Glinda very uncomfortable. But even so, she held her tongue at first regarding the difference in her friend. Everyone had their own way of dealing with emotional trauma, and perhaps this was the green girl's method of coming to terms with what had happened to Fiyero. The blonde decided to keep quiet for the time being and see if perhaps Elphaba would work through her guilt and anger and return to normal on her own without Glinda ever having to involve herself.

But her hope of this was short-lived. Elphaba showed no signs of abandoning her new outlook anytime soon. In fact, she only seemed to embrace it more with every day that passed. And so, when Glinda learned that her friend had sent Chistery and a few of the other winged monkeys to collect Dorothy and bring her to the castle, she decided that enough was enough. No one else would have dared to confront Elphaba in her current mood. But Glinda was just brave enough (or just foolish enough), so she gathered her courage and her skirts, marched up the stairs to the green girl's workroom, and strode into the tower chamber without even knocking.

Elphaba was seated at her worktable, studying her crystal ball intently, and looked up in surprise and more than a little annoyance when she heard the blonde enter the room. "Go away," she frowned before turning her attention back to the orb.

"Elphie, I want to talk to you," Glinda told her, ignoring her directive to leave.

"Go away!" Elphaba ordered again more sharply, this time not even bothering to look at her.

Slightly offended at the abrupt dismissal, the blonde set her jaw firmly and took a few steps forward. "No, Elphaba, I will _not_ go away! Not until you forget about that blasted crystal ball for two seconds and listen to me!"

This finally got Elphaba's attention, and she looked up, startled by the vehemence in her friend's tone. "All right. Fine. I'm listening. What do you want?"

"What I want is for you to stop this nonsense right this minute," Glinda told her, wasting no time in coming to the point of her visit. "I know you don't want to hear this, but someone has to say it: you are _out of control!_ I mean, did you really have to send the monkeys after Dorothy? She's just a little girl, Elphie. What harm do you honestly think she could do?"

"Never underestimate a child," the green girl advised crossly as she stood. "When I was her age, I just about blew up the Governor's Mansion in Munchkinland."

Glinda stared at her for a moment and then shook her head. "But that's different. You… well… you're…" She trailed off, trying to think of a word that wouldn't upset her friend more.

"I'm what?" Elphaba arched an eyebrow at her.

Reading the danger signals in the green girl's dark eyes, the blonde quickly and diplomatically amended the answer she had been going to give, and settled for finishing, "… _you_."

Elphaba gave her a suspicious look, but let the remark pass without a response. "Well, be that as it may, the little brat stole my sister's shoes," she pointed out with a glare that was clearly intended to remind the shorter girl of the part she had played in the theft of the aforementioned footwear. "I want them back. And I'm going to get them, one way or another."

Glinda wasn't sure whether to laugh at the absurdity of her friend's obsession with the jeweled slippers or to grab her by the shoulders and shake her hard until she came to her senses. "Oh, for goodness' sake, Elphaba, you are being completely ridiculous! I told you that day, and I'll say it again: they are _just_ _shoes!_ _Let it go!_ Elphie, you can't go on like this!"

"I can do anything I want – I'm the Wicked Witch of the West!" contradicted the green girl with a chilling laugh.

"Stop it!"

"Why should I? Everyone expects me to be wicked. I'm just giving them what they all want."

"Don't be absurd. You know the Wizard was wrong when he said that. And anyway, can't you see who you're acting like?"

"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do." When the green girl remained silent, looking at her expectantly, Glinda took a deep breath and elaborated, "Just look at yourself, Elphaba. You're becoming just like your sister."

This last sentence had much the same effect on Elphaba as if the blonde had doused her with a bucket of ice water. She froze, and her face paled. "No… that's… that's not true," she protested weakly. "I'm not like her. I'm _not_. Nessa was bitter, and vindictive, and self-pitying, and… and…" She cut herself off abruptly, a horrified expression coming over her features as she realized that her description of her sister could easily have been describing _her_.

Glinda merely raised an eyebrow, as if to say, _My point exactly._

Elphaba collapsed back into the chair at the worktable and buried her face in her hands. "When did this happen, Glin? I don't even recognize myself anymore! How did I turn into… into _this?_"

Now that she had finally gotten through to her friend, the blonde was determined to help her pull herself back together. "Oh, Elphie, it's all right," she assured the green girl, hurrying over to wrap her in a comforting hug. "Nobody could blame you, not after everything you've been through. But you know Fiyero wouldn't want you to do this to yourself. You know he'd want better for you than this."

"I know," the green girl admitted with a faint nod. "But I'm not sure how to convince myself that I deserve better after what I've done."

Glinda was sobered by this for a few moments, until an idea occurred to her. "Well, I know something you can do to help yourself feel better. I'm assuming it's too late to call back the monkeys that you sent out to get Dorothy. But once they get back here with her, you might consider treating her nicely and trying not to scare her out of her wits. She's probably terrified of you already after hearing all the stories people tell about you, and more likely than not, being carried off by a bunch of flying monkeys isn't going to improve her opinion. I'm sure she'll feel much more inclined to give you a chance if you make it clear from the very beginning that you're not going to hurt her."

"I was never going to hurt her," muttered Elphaba. "I just want my sister's shoes."

"Well," Glinda reasoned, "if you show her that you're not wicked, maybe she'll be willing to give them to you if you explain what happened."

As much as she abhorred the idea of extending any sort of kindness or hospitality to the person who had killed her sister, even if the child had played her part in the murder inadvertently, Elphaba had to admit that her friend was right. Diplomacy was far more likely than force to gain her what she sought. If she could manage to win Dorothy's trust, perhaps the girl would see things her way and part with the shoes willingly. So, albeit reluctantly, she decided to treat the child as a guest rather than a prisoner. Any hostility between them, she resolved firmly, would not be initiated by her.

However, this resolution proved quite difficult to maintain once Dorothy actually arrived. Chistery and the other monkeys landed with the girl down in the courtyard of the castle as Elphaba watched from the window of the tower chamber. She winced when she realized that she could hear the child's screams from all the way up in her workroom. _I'll give the little brat something to scream about,_ she thought sourly. But then she remembered that she was supposed to be doing her best _not_ to frighten the girl to death. Closing her eyes with a sigh for a moment, she gritted her teeth and reminded herself to be civil. Then she swept down the tower stairs and went to greet her guest.

However, before she had taken more than a few steps into the corridor, she bumped into Glinda, who was just coming out of her bedroom. "Where are you going, Elphie?" she asked, noticing the green girl's purposeful air.

"Down to the courtyard. Dorothy's here," replied Elphaba, hardly stopping long enough to answer.

Glinda's eyes widened, and she immediately changed her course to follow her friend. "I'm coming with you."

"I'm just going to ensure that the girl receives a proper welcome."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Your definition of 'proper' isn't exactly… conventional, you know."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Come on, Glin, we've talked about this. I already told you that I'm not going to do anything to her."

"I know, and I believe you," the blonde assured her quickly. "I just think that maybe seeing me will help her realize that nothing's going to happen to her."

Elphaba considered this for a moment, and then conceded, "You're probably right about that. Well, come on, then."

"No, Elphie, I don't care what you say, I'm coming with – " Then the green girl's words sank in. "Wait… did you just… _give in_? Just like that? With no argument at all?"

"Is it really that shocking?"

"Yes."

"Well, shocking or not, you might as well come along. I'm sure she likes you better anyway."

"That's only because she hasn't met you yet," Glinda demurred.

"Oh, yes. And I'm sure she's positively _dying_ to make my acquaintance," quipped the green girl.

"There's no need to be snide about it, Elphie," huffed Glinda. "Just behave yourself, and she'll see soon enough that she doesn't need to be afraid of you."

"We're both grown women, and you're telling me to _behave myself?_ There is definitely something wrong with this scenario."

"Well, someone's got to say it, and I don't exactly see anyone else volunteering for the job."

Elphaba shot the blonde a look. "You know, it's a _very_ good thing for you right now that you happen to be my best friend."

Glinda took the hint and wisely shut up. Elphaba gave a satisfied nod, and the two continued on their way to the courtyard.

By the time they arrived, Dorothy had calmed down somewhat in her relief to be back on solid ground. Her shrieks had subsided to mere sobs, although she was still huddled in a shivering heap on the flagstone pavement of the courtyard, facing away from where Glinda and Elphaba stood. The monkeys Elphaba had sent to bring her to the castle were gathered in a loose circle around her, chattering to one another, but backed off when they saw the two witches approaching. Alerted to their presence, the girl quickly turned to see who the new arrivals were, and her wide, terrified eyes immediately locked onto the emerald-skinned woman standing in front of her.

Having never actually met the child face-to-face before, Elphaba found herself scrutinizing her intently. "So, you're the celebrated Dorothy," she remarked, looking the girl up and down with a critical eye, "the one who had the nerve to drop a house on my sister's head."

"I didn't do it on purpose!" wailed Dorothy. "I never meant to hurt anyone! It was an accident, I swear!"

"It most certainly was _not_ an accident," Elphaba contradicted her sharply. Then, with an effort, she forced herself to soften her tone. "But I do know that it wasn't you who caused it."

Dorothy's eyebrows rose, and seemed to be taking a moment to process the fact that the Witch wasn't attempting to murder her to avenge her sister's death. "You… you do?" she wondered in surprise, hiccupping slightly as she made an effort to swallow her tears.

"You're a little girl, for Oz's sake," Elphaba reminded her. "How could you possibly have contrived to drop that house on her? And besides, you didn't even know Nessa. You may very well be the one and only person in Oz without any reason to kill her."

Dorothy considered the green girl's words with a thoughtful frown. Finally she asked tentatively, "So… you're really not angry about it?"

Elphaba grudgingly shrugged her affirmation. "Not at you, anyway."

"Oh, good!" the girl exclaimed, relaxing visibly, and finally got to her feet. "Oh, I'm so glad! I've been awfully worried, thinking you'd blame me for what happened. I'd never do something like that on purpose, you know, honest I wouldn't. It all just happened so fast… one minute I was in Kansas, and then the cyclone came, and the next thing I knew I was here and all the Munchkins were thanking me, and then Miss Glinda arrived, and –" She trailed off in surprise as she finally registered the identity of the other young woman who had arrived in the courtyard with Elphaba. "Why, Miss Glinda! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead!"

"So they actually told everyone that I was dead?" the blonde asked with considerable surprise. She had not expected Morrible and the Wizard to admit this fact to the people of Oz.

"Well, the official story is that you were brutally murdered by the Wicked Witch of the West."

"I should've known they'd figure out some way to pin it on me," Elphaba sighed in a disgusted tone.

"Well, it _is_ partially true," pointed out Glinda apologetically. "In fact, one might even say it's _mostly_ true."

"That's entirely beside the point."

"And how did they know I was dead, anyway?"

"Morrible knew that the only way to break the spell she'd put on you would be to kill you. And with a spell of that nature, she would have been able to sense it the moment it was broken. She must have simply assumed," hypothesized the green girl.

Glinda nodded her acceptance of the explanation. "I doubt she planned on you bringing me back, though."

"I'd be willing to bet on it," Elphaba agreed. "And clearly they don't know that I did, or else they would've sent a rescue party out to search for you instead of spreading the tale of your brutal murder at the hands of the Wicked Witch of the West."

Dorothy had followed this exchange in silence, a confused expression on her face. Finally she interrupted, "Wait a minute… so, Miss Glinda… you really were… dead? And she – " she broke off to gesture in Elphaba's direction, " – brought you back to life?"

"It's a long story," Glinda told her. "But yes, that's basically it."

"But… dead people can't come back to life! How is that possible?"

"With magic," Elphaba answered matter-of-factly, as though it should have been the most natural conclusion in the world.

The girl's eyes widened. "So Fiyero was right," she murmured to herself.

But Elphaba heard her, and froze upon hearing that particular name come from Dorothy's mouth. "_What_ did you say?"

"I said, Fiyero was right," Dorothy repeated nervously, not having been prepared for the reaction that using his name would get from Elphaba. When the green girl's expression did not change, the child was quick to elaborate, "He's the Scarecrow I've been traveling with, in case you didn't already know. He told me about you – the truth, I mean, not what everyone says and thinks. He said you'd never use your powers to hurt anyone, only to help people. I was just saying that now I see he was telling the truth."

Elphaba could hardly contain her shock as the implications of what Dorothy had said sank in. So Fiyero had put himself at risk on her behalf – again! – and told the child the truth about her, even though there was no way he could have been completely sure he could trust Dorothy with the information. And he had told her that Elphaba wouldn't use her magic to harm anyone. Could he really still believe that after what she had done to him? Was it actually possible… could there be even the slightest chance that he didn't hate her after all?

A treacherous tendril of hope uncurled itself inside her, which she tried frantically to squash the moment she became aware of its presence. She couldn't allow herself to hope like this. It was far too dangerous. She had hoped once that working for the Wizard would be the solution to all her problems. She had hoped once that her efforts might save the Animals she had rescued and brought to live in the hideout. And just look where those hopes had landed her. The only purpose hope had ever served in her life was to make her that much more miserable when whatever she was hoping for never happened.

But now that the tiny wisp of an optimistic thought had entered her mind, it refused to leave, no matter how hard she tried to banish it. _All right, then,_ she told herself finally. _If you can't eradicate it, then just ignore it. Thinking about it will only make it stronger. If you just ignore it, it will shrivel up and disappear._ With this logic in mind, she focused her attention on the child before her, reminding herself firmly of the reasons she had had Chistery and the other monkeys bring the girl to Kiamo Ko in the first place.

"So what of the task the Wizard gave you to carry out before he would agree to help you get home?" she wondered, forcing her voice to remain steady and not betray how shaken she was.

Dorothy's eyes widened. "You know about that?"

"Everyone in Oz knows about it," Elphaba told her. "I was bound to hear sooner or later. But you still haven't answered my question. What are you going to do about the Wizard's orders now that you know the truth about me?"

"Why, ignore them, of course," replied Dorothy, her tone implying that her answer should have been an obvious conclusion. "A person who's willing to pick on someone who hasn't done anything wrong just to keep himself out of trouble can't be trusted to keep his promises. And besides, I've started to think that he wouldn't be much help in getting me back to Kansas even if I did what he asked."

The green girl smirked approvingly. "You're certainly right about that. The chances of him being able to send you home are about as good as the chances of you finding a way back on your own."

"In other words, it'll never happen."

"Precisely." Then Elphaba's attention was drawn to the shoes that were glittering merrily on the child's feet. "And what about those?"

Surprised, Dorothy stuck out one foot and turned it this way and that, making the shoes throw little sparkles of light all over the courtyard. "My shoes? What about them?"

"Well, for starters, they're mine. They belonged to my sister Nessarose. But my sister is now unfortunately deceased, thanks to a certain flying house with which I believe you're well acquainted. So, seeing as how I'm her only surviving relative, they rightfully belong to me."

The girl cast a surprised and chagrined look at Glinda. "You didn't tell me that when you gave them to me!" she recalled reproachfully.

"Well, I… er… that is…" the blonde stammered, flushing a guilty crimson. Elphaba raised an eyebrow at her, and after offering an apologetic shrug and a rather sheepish smile, she quickly decided to remain silent on the matter, for fear of incurring even more of Elphaba's wrath than she already had for giving away the jeweled slippers.

"I wouldn't have taken them if I'd known they belonged to your sister," Dorothy averred, turning back to Elphaba. "You're welcome to them. They don't match my dress, anyway."

Elphaba cast an amused look at the blonde beside her. "She has a point, Glin. I mean, really – red shoes with a blue-and-white dress? What _were_ you thinking? I do hope your fashion sense hasn't deserted you."

"Well, even if it had – which it most certainly has not – at least it would mean I had some fashion sense to be deserted by," Glinda sniffed, pretending to be deeply offended. "Unlike _some_ people I could mention."

"Oh, really?" Elphaba raised an eyebrow, refusing to take the bait. "And to whom exactly would you be referring?"

"Oh, no one in particular," said Glinda innocently.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it's so."

"Good. Because otherwise I would have been forced to make some assumptions that could very well have ended quite disastrously for you, my dear."

By this time, Dorothy was watching them as though she rather doubted the sanity of both witches. "And you two are really best friends?" she asked skeptically.

"What?" Glinda was puzzled for a moment until she realized that their arguing was what had prompted the question, and then laughed. "Oh, that? That was nothing."

"You should have heard us back at Shiz _before_ we became friends," Elphaba agreed. Dorothy merely stared at them for a moment more and shook her head.

"Well, then," Glinda chimed brightly, "now that we're all friends here, and Dorothy knows that Elphie isn't going to hurt her, and Elphie knows that Dorothy's going to give her back Nessa's shoes, shall we all go inside?"

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**See that little button down there next to Submit Review? The button that says GO? It wants to be clicked. Yes it does.**


	19. Lost All Resistance

**A/N: This is a chapter that I know a lot of you have been waiting anxiously for, so I won't ramble. I will just say that the idea at the beginning of Glinda making (or attempting to make) tea came from my good friend Eve, a.k.a. TheWickedWitchOfOz. Thanks again, my pretty!**

**Oh, and anyone who finds the Little Mermaid quote gets a cookie.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. It owns me.

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Once they were inside the castle, Glinda noticed that Dorothy seemed to be shivering. "Oh, you poor thing!" she exclaimed in dismay. "You must be frozen from flying, especially in those thin clothes! Come with me, I'll make you some tea to warm you up."

"Some tea would be wonderful," Dorothy accepted the offer with a grateful smile.

Elphaba, however, had learned from experience that Glinda's efforts in the kitchen rarely produced edible (or in this case drinkable) results. "You'll make her some tea? Glinda, have you ever brewed a pot of tea for yourself in your life?"

"Well, no… but that's got nothing to do with it," sniffed the blonde, the very picture of injured pride. "I mean, how hard can it be? You just put the hot water and the leaves in the little pot, and _voila!_"

Elphaba couldn't keep one corner of her mouth from curling upwards. "Well, all right, then, if you say so," she acquiesced, her tone clearly implying that she knew more about the matter than her friend, and she was enjoying it.

Glinda crossed her arms petulantly and frowned, "If you don't believe me, come down to the kitchen with us. I can make a pot of tea just as well as anyone, and I'll prove it!"

"No, I think I'll leave the two of you to have your little tea party on your own," Elphaba declined with a shake of her head. "I learned my lesson a long time ago about sampling your culinary experiments."

"Oh, for Oz's sake, Elphie, that was forever ago! And besides, it's not food we're talking about here. It's just _tea!_ Even _I_ can't possibly mess it up that badly."

Elphaba gave no verbal response, but her expression made it obvious that she begged to differ on that particular point.

"Fine, then!" sulked Glinda, her offended frown deepening. "Dorothy and I will have tea by ourselves, and it's going to be delicious, and we'll enjoy it immensely. And don't expect us to save any for you!"

"I'd much prefer it if you didn't, in fact."

"Don't worry, we won't!" And with one final glare, Glinda laid a hand on Dorothy's shoulder and steered her off in the direction of the castle's kitchen.

Elphaba watched them go with a smirk, resisting the childish impulse to shout something after them so that she could have the last word. However, once they had disappeared and she was left alone, her smile faded, and she let out a tired sigh. It was proving far more difficult than she had expected to play the part of herself, to convince Glinda that she was finally getting back to normal, or at least what passed as normal for her. She hated deceiving her friend, but she told herself firmly that it was for the blonde's own good. She didn't want Glinda to have to worry about her the way she had when they first arrived at Kiamo Ko. And besides, now that Dorothy had shown up and had proven to be surprisingly less unpleasant than Elphaba had been expecting, it was best for everyone involved if she pretended that everything was all right. Anyway, it was far easier to carry on the charade of normalcy than it would have been to let herself think about all the problems that still needed solving.

She trudged wearily back up to her workroom, wondering halfheartedly if moving to a different location might somehow help her to escape her thoughts. But it was no use, as she had known would be the case. The nagging doubts and questions followed her like faithful but unwanted pets, assailing her as fiercely and relentlessly as ever. Soon she found herself in her tower chamber once more, pacing to and fro like a caged Animal. It was an activity that had occupied large amounts of her time of late. In fact, she reflected wryly, if she kept it up much longer, the soles of her boots would probably start to wear out from their prolonged contact with the chamber's floor.

Thinking of footwear naturally drew Elphaba's mind back to one of the matters that was troubling her: her sister's shoes. They were as good as hers now. Dorothy had promised she would give them to her, and although she knew she might very well come to regret it, the green girl had chosen to believe that the child would do as she had promised. The girl couldn't possibly be a competent liar, not with her round, childish face and large, innocent eyes.

So she now had the coveted ruby slippers within her grasp. She ought to be rejoicing at the thought. But she suddenly realized that a large part of the victorious feeling she had imagined as part of this moment had stemmed from the idea of taking the shoes back by force. She hadn't really expected Dorothy to give them over willingly, no matter how much she had claimed to hope it would happen, and she found to her great chagrin that having the shoes handed to her freely was somehow depriving her of any satisfaction she might have gotten out of the whole affair.

And why had she wanted the accursed things so much in the first place? Now that she thought about it, all they really amounted to was a testament to one of her many failures. At first they had been yet another symbol of her father's cruelly obvious preference for Nessa over her. And more recently they had become a harsh reminder of her inability to do even one good deed for her sister. She had enchanted them so Nessa could walk, finally thinking after all this time to use her powers to help the one person who had needed to be rescued more than anyone else she knew. Then she had saved Boq's life after the disastrous scene that had ensued. But in the end it had all been futile. She had done everything she could for her sister, and it had never been enough. Boq was now a heartless man made out of metal, and Nessa had been squashed like a bug by Dorothy's flying house. No, the shoes could not possibly do anything for her now except dredge up painful memories that were much better left alone.

_Speaking of painful memories…_ Her restless gaze lighted on her crystal ball, and she couldn't help but remember the day she had discovered who the Scarecrow with Dorothy was. The thought of what her spell had done to Fiyero still left her sick with guilt. She had been certain from the moment she found out that he was the Scarecrow that he hated her now. How could he possibly _not_ hate her after she had doomed him to this awful half-existence, leaving him not dead, but not truly alive? He _must_ hate her now; it was the only possible reaction she could imagine that made any sense. And what drove the spike of pain the thought caused even deeper into the already-gaping wound in her heart was that she couldn't fault him for it in the least. He had been so wonderful to her, and look how she had repaid him! She _deserved_ his hatred. And he deserved someone who was good enough for him, someone who was worthy of his love.

But no matter how often or how vehemently she told herself this, it could not drown out the recollection of Dorothy's voice from down in the courtyard earlier. _"He told me about you – the truth, I mean, not what everyone says and thinks. He said you'd never use your powers to hurt anyone, only to help people."_ Curious as to just how much of 'the truth' Fiyero had seen fit to share, Elphaba had questioned the girl farther as they made their way inside, and she had learned that by 'the truth,' Dorothy had meant _the truth_. All of it, from the day Elphaba and Fiyero had met up until the last time they had seen each other. And in spite of herself, there was a tiny voice in her head, soft but persistent, that wondered, _Why would he have bothered to tell Dorothy all about you if he really hated you?_

She frantically strangled the thought and tried her utmost to forget she had ever had it in the first place, but it was no use. The irritating but seemingly indestructible wisp of hope it had created held fast, lodging itself firmly in some crevice in her mind from which she could not eradicate it. Frustrated, she shook her head as though trying to dislodge the small grain of optimism so she could pluck it out and dispose of it. It didn't do to think such things. It was better not to allow oneself to believe in false hope.

_But you don't __know__ that it's false,_ the voice in her head pointed out.

_Stop it!_ she snapped mentally, refusing to be the slightest bit disturbed that she was holding an argument with herself.

_Well, you don't. Admit it._

_Fine. I don't __know__. But what reason do I have to believe otherwise?_

_It's Fiyero. Not so long ago, you didn't think it possible that he could ever really love you, remember? And look how wrong you were about that._

_Yes. And then I finally let myself believe it, and just look where it's gotten me!_

_Ah, but for a little while, you were happy. Really, genuinely happy._

_So happy that I wasn't nearly as careful as I should have been and ended up leading Morrible and the Wizard's guards right to the Animal camp! I've learned my lesson. Being happy is dangerous. And so is hoping for things that I know can't be true._

_Well, of course it can't be true if you don't give it a chance to!_

_Why should I let myself entertain the notion that he doesn't hate me when it might not be true? If I let myself hope, and then it turns out that I was wrong and he does hate me, it's only going to make me feel worse._

_But if you let yourself hope, and then it turns out that you were __right__ and he __doesn't__ hate you…_

_I prefer not to get my hopes up. That way I can't be disappointed._

_And Glinda wonders why you're so miserable all the time._

_I'm not miserable! It's called __being __realistic!_

_Well, you could have fooled me._

Elphaba was about to fling back a stinging retort, but she was pulled back to reality by a knock on the door of the tower room. She opened it to find one of the sentries standing there. "What is it?" she asked him.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Miss, but we've captured three intruders in the castle," the man reported.

She raised an eyebrow. "Intruders?"

"Yes. They got guards' uniforms from somewhere, that's how they got in. We found them sneaking about, poking around in all the rooms. Seemed like they were looking for something specific."

"All right. Thank you for notifying me, I'll come and deal with them."

"Yes, Miss."

She followed the sentry down to where the three trespassers were being detained. When she entered the room, her eyebrows shot up as she caught sight of the captives. Struggling not to laugh at the ridiculous sight they made dressed in the garb of the castle sentries, she motioned to the men guarding them, and they released the trio obediently, if perhaps a bit reluctantly. Another gesture from her, and the guards saluted and trooped out, leaving her alone with the three intruders.

Once the sentries were gone, she allowed her gaze to meet the familiar blue eyes of the Scarecrow. "I must commend you for your… _creativity,_ gentlemen," she quipped, eyeing their outfits with amusement. "But wouldn't it have been easier just to come to the front door and knock?" After taking a moment to relish the expressions on their faces as they realized that all their efforts to sneak into Kiamo Ko had been unnecessary, she continued, "Dorothy's downstairs with Glinda. I'm sure she'll be delighted to see you."

Elphaba guided them down to the kitchen, where she witnessed their joyful reunion with Dorothy and Glinda. After a minute or two, the five of them were so busy catching up that she knew they wouldn't notice if she slipped away. A moment later she had ducked out of the room and was on her way back up to her tower, filled with an odd sense of relief. She didn't think she was ready yet to face Fiyero, and even if she had been ready, she certainly didn't want it to happen in front of the others. No, the conversation the two of them needed to have was much better left for another time, when they could talk privately.

_You're running away from your problems again, just like you always do,_ the same voice from earlier pointed out in her head in an infuriatingly superior tone.

Elphaba chose not to dignify the comment with a response. She didn't appreciate being talked down to by her own mind, for one thing. And what was more, she deeply resented the fact that it was right.

She busied herself around the tower chamber, but found herself unable to focus on any one task. Finally she settled down at her worktable with a book, hoping that reading might be able to take her mind off things for a little while. However, it wasn't long before she sensed someone at the door, watching her. And it wasn't difficult to guess who it was. Closing her eyes briefly, she drew a deep breath and shut her book.

"You shouldn't lurk in doorways, Fiyero," she advised him without turning around. "It's rude."

"I thought I might find you up here," he said, and she was aware of the sound of his footsteps entering the room. "You know, somehow I could have guessed this was where you'd be, even if Glinda hadn't told me to look here."

"You know me that well, do you?"

"It's just like the place you used to go to at the top of that mountain near the Animal hideout."

She considered this for a moment, and realized he was right. "So it is," she conceded. "And once again, it would appear that you've found me."

"I do seem to be good at it, don't I?" he agreed.

"You say that as though it's something to be proud of." She heard the question in his lack of response, and finally stood and turned to face him. "I'm just wondering why you haven't figured out yet that you'd be much better off without me."

Fiyero's forehead creased in a frown. "What are you talking about?"

"Haven't you learned by now? I'm dangerous. Everyone unlucky enough to get too close to me, everyone I care about, ends up getting hurt in one way or another because of me. Nessa, Boq, Glinda, the Animals… you."

"Is _that_ what this is about? Elphaba…" He quickly crossed the room to where she stood and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Elphaba, you can't blame yourself for what happened to me. It isn't your fault."

"But it is, Fiyero!" she protested, determined to make him understand the full extent of her guilt in the matter. "If I hadn't cast that spell…"

"Then I wouldn't be here right now," he interrupted gently, finishing her sentence before she could. "The only thing you did to me by casting that spell was save my life."

The speck of optimism that had been planted in her mind earlier by Dorothy's words was quickly gaining a foothold, she found to her dismay. She had hardly dared to even consider it, but now that he was here, standing in front of her, stating outright that he didn't blame her for the results of her spell, it was suddenly impossible to completely shut it out.

The expression in his blue eyes unnerved her, and she quickly realized that it was because it was no different from the way he had looked at her before. If she continued to meet his eyes any longer, she knew she would lose her grip on what her stubborn mind still insisted was the reality of the situation. So she lowered her gaze to the floor. "You joined up with Dorothy," she reminded him – and herself – in one last effort to keep herself from getting carried away by the surge of hope that had suddenly overwhelmed her. "You knew what the Wizard had sent her to do, and you and Saryan still decided to go with her."

"Well, we were trying to find you," Fiyero explained, "but we had no idea where you'd disappeared to after the battle. Then we ran into Dorothy and Boq, and they knew where you were. Traveling with them was the quickest and most convenient way we could think of to get back to you." Now it was his turn to look guilty. "I guess it never occurred to us to consider how it would look to you when you found out. I'm sorry."

She scrambled frantically for some other reason not to believe what he was saying. But it seemed she had finally run out of excuses. His words left her with no choice but to accept them. But although he clearly recognized that what she had done had been absolutely necessary, there was a corner of her mind that maintained it was still possible that he might be angry at her for it. "So… you don't…" She took a deep breath and raised her head, suddenly needing to see his eyes as she finished, "You really don't hate me?"

Fiyero drew back slightly, looking stunned. "Hate you? Elphaba, why in Oz would I hate you?"

"Why in Oz _wouldn't_ you?" she returned. "After everything you've gone through because of me…"

"Elphaba, look at me." When she lifted her eyes to meet his, he reached out and rested a hand on her cheek, holding her gaze. "Don't _ever_ doubt my love for you. There's nothing you could ever do that would make me love you the slightest bit less than I do. _Nothing._ Understand?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, I don't." Then the corners of her mouth turned up into a faint smile. "But do you know something? For once, I think I like not understanding."

Fiyero's smile matched hers, and he pulled her close. They held each other tightly, both savoring the peaceful moments. Finally she raised her head and reached up to touch his cloth face, but then stopped, unsure of herself.

Fiyero smiled gently at her hesitation. "Go ahead, touch. I don't mind," he assured her quietly.

She nodded, and tentatively rested her hand on his cheek. Oddly enough, even though his face was now made of burlap, she could still recognize his features – the broad shoulders, the adorable, slightly lopsided half-smile that had always made her go weak at the knees, and of course those amazing blue eyes. But something about the gesture – maybe it was the feel of rough fabric under her fingers where there should have been smooth human skin – set off a reaction in her. Before she could help herself, she found that there were tears spilling down her cheeks. "Fiyero… I'm so, so sorry… I never meant to… to… well, for _this_ to happen…"

"Shh, Elphaba. Please, don't cry. It's all right, really, it is. I promise." He reached out and carefully wiped the salty wetness from her face. "You did the best you could, sweetheart. We both know that."

She took a couple of deep, shuddering breaths, trying to stop crying. "It's just… sometimes it seems like my best is never good enough," she managed.

Fiyero frowned slightly and cupped her face in his hands. "Elphaba, I don't ever want you to feel like you're not good enough. I don't know where you got that idea, but it's absolutely not true. You're the most amazing woman I've ever known, and I love you just exactly the way you are."

"What did I ever do to deserve you, Fiyero? You're so good; you're too good for me… you deserve so much better than me…"

"Don't you get it? I don't _want_ someone 'better' than you! You're the only person I could ever be truly happy with. If I didn't know that by now, I'd have to be completely brainless." She quirked an eyebrow at him, wiping away one last tear, and he shot her a look. "All right, I set myself up for that one."

"I didn't even say anything!" she protested.

"You were thinking it, though. Don't even try to deny it."

She wasn't completely able to hide the smirk that curled up one corner of her mouth. "Well, like you said, you set yourself up for it." She wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed a quick kiss against his cheek. "You're still beautiful," she told him softly, and she truly meant it. For the first time, she thought she understood what people meant when they quoted the old cliche that true beauty comes from within.

"You don't have to lie to me," he said, the corners of his mouth turning up very slightly. She saw him realize at the same moment she did that they were having a rerun of the same conversation they had had in the forest during their trip to Munchkinland. Only now they had switched places.

"It's not lying," she insisted with a smile, echoing his words to her from that night. "It's looking at things another way."

Fiyero returned the smile with one of his own, and pressed his lips briefly to her forehead. Then he relaxed his embrace and took her hand in his. "What do you say we go downstairs?" he suggested. "Glinda was worried about you."

"That's nothing new or different. Worrying about me seems to have become her favorite hobby of late."

"All the more reason for you to come downstairs with me. You know how obsessive she gets with her 'hobbies.'"

Elphaba gave a 'hmph' of agreement. Then she nodded and let him lead her out of her tower chamber and down the stairs.

"You're not fair, you know, my sweet," she complained half-heartedly as they headed in the direction of the kitchen.

"How am I not fair?" he wondered with a puzzled expression.

"Because you somehow always manage to sneak past my defenses. No matter how hard I try, I can't shut you out like I do other people."

"And that makes me unfair?" Although he obviously tried to hide it, she caught the amusement in his voice.

"Don't laugh!" she scolded, giving him a disgruntled look. "It's unspeakably frustrating."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," he agreed cheerfully. "But you'd better get used to it, because I'm very, very good at sneaking."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "You're such an idiot." But then she relented enough to smile up at him and lace her fingers through his. "But you're _my_ idiot."

"Oh, I'm _yours_, am I?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, _mine_," she reiterated with an almost childish firmness, gripping his hand a little tighter to prove her point.

He nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose that makes up for the 'idiot' part, then."

She smirked. "It's a start, anyway."

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**A/N: Well, there you have it! I hope you're happy, I hope you're happy now…**

**Now why don't you show me how happy you are and review, my pretties!**


	20. Even A Munchkin Has Feelings

**A/N: A bit shorter than my norm, but it's been three weeks since I've posted anything, so I wanted to get something out there. So sorry for the wait, everyone!**

**I humbly apologize for not replying to all the wonderful reviews you all left me for the last chapter. I appreciate each and every one of them, I truly do; school and life in general have just been eating me alive since I last posted. Those of you who correctly identified the "Little Mermaid" quote – it was "You shouldn't lurk in doorways, it's rude." – receive cookies; you know who you are. (And yes, Sox dearie, you may have a cookie, too, just because I happen to think you're great.)**

**I must pause here for a moment and give a heartfelt thank you to my good friend Eve, a.k.a. TheWickedWitchOfOz, without whose highly useful suggestions and input this chapter (and several of the upcoming ones) would not be possible. Thanks again, my pretty – you're fabulous!**

**Disclaimer: I checked, and guess what? IT'S STILL NOT MINE! Surprised? I sure was…

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So Elphaba's relationship with Fiyero had been put to rights. After their conversation in the tower room, they had picked up right where they left off, and things between them now seemed to have gotten back to normal… or at least, as normal as could be expected in the current situation.

The same could not be said, however, for her acquaintance with Boq. The Munchkin was not at all inclined to forgive her so easily for turning him into tin. His disposition towards her did not improve when he learned that both the Scarecrow and the Lion, whom he had trusted as fellow Witch-hunters, were actually on Elphaba's side. And when it became clear that she had won Dorothy over as well, it was the last straw. He refused to speak to her. He would not stay near her for any length of time. And if he could not avoid being in the same room with her, he settled for sending her murderous looks every so often.

This did not bother Elphaba in the least. She didn't give a twig what Boq thought of her; he could go jump into the castle moat and rust himself into oblivion, for all she cared. What irked her was being blamed for something that had not been her fault. She knew Boq was still furious at her for what she had done to him, and she couldn't say she blamed him for it. But it wasn't as if she had cast that spell because she _wanted_ to turn him into tin and make his life miserable. It had been the only way to curtail the damage that Nessa's botched spell had done. Elphaba's spell had saved his life, for Oz's sake! Would it have killed him to be just the tiniest bit grateful?

It was knowing that this was why Boq was so angry at her that kept her from ignoring him completely. At first, she merely gritted her teeth and tolerated his animosity, as she'd been accustomed to doing all her life. But the more the others treated her normally, the more determined Boq seemed to become in his resolve to do the opposite.

It didn't take long for his behavior to start wearing her patience thin. And she could tell that the others were growing annoyed with him as well. Finally she decided that enough was enough, and fixed the Munchkin with an intimidating look.

"If you have a problem with me, Boq," she snapped, "I would much rather you just come right out and say so, instead of stewing about it like you've been doing ever since you got here."

The Tin Man seemed to take this as a challenge, and returned her glare with one of his own. "Oh, you want to know what my problem is?" he growled. "My problem is that I'm stuck here with the person who ruined my life, and no one seems to understand why I'm upset about it!"

"My sister obviously taught you the fine art of self-pity," Elphaba observed in a tone of frigid disapproval. "But you certainly can't claim to be the only person whose life I've 'ruined,' as you so tactfully put it. In case you've forgotten, Fiyero, Glinda, Saryan, and Dorothy all have just as much reason as you do to be angry at me for the things I've done to them. But I don't see _them_ holding any grudges."

"Well, it's rather difficult to forgive someone when you don't have a heart," Boq pointed out bitterly.

At this, her last, perilously thin modicum of self-control finally deserted her. "It's funny," she mused in an acerbic tone that pretended to be thoughtful, "but you seem to be under the impression that it was my spell that made you heartless."

"I don't see how it could have been anything else!" he shot back, seeming incredulous that such a thought could have crossed her mind.

"Ah," she murmured, nodding her comprehension. "Well, in that case, it would seem I've been in error for quite some time. You see, based on the way you treated my sister – you know, leading her on all that time, even though you had plenty of opportunities to tell her the truth – I had come to the conclusion that you were heartless long before I ever cast that spell on you." Adopting a contrite attitude that bore heavy undertones of sarcasm, she added, "I do apologize for the misunderstanding."

This finally elicited the first emotion other than anger that any of them had seen from the Munchkin. "Now that's not fair!" he protested, and although it was extremely faint, she detected a slight edge of guilt to his voice. "I mean, you know what your sister was like. I might not have been in love with her, but I didn't want to hurt her. I really didn't. Why do you think I waited until after she could walk to ask if I could leave? I might have felt like a prisoner there with her, but I wouldn't have abandoned her when she needed me. Not like you did."

His last words hit Elphaba right where it hurt, and had the situation been anything else, she would have retaliated with something equally wounding. But her venomous retort died before ever reaching her lips, because she knew as well as he did that he was right. She _had_ abandoned her sister. And it was Boq who had been there to take care of Nessa when Elphaba had let her down. She sighed heavily, forcing herself to bring her temper under control and keep their argument from getting out of hand. "Boq, I really am sorry for what I did to you. More sorry than you can possibly know. But it was the only way. Surely you understand that."

"What are you talking about?" the Tin Man frowned.

Elphaba stared at him for a moment in blank surprise. "You mean… you really don't remember _anything_ of what happened that day?"

"I remember asking your sister if I could leave," he recalled with a shrug. "And the next thing I knew, I was waking up in her wheelchair, made out of metal, and she was screaming at me that it was you who had done it."

"That doesn't surprise me," she quipped, casting her eyes briefly towards the ceiling. "She blamed me for everything else; why should this be any different?" Then a thought occurred to her, and she fixed Boq with a suspicious look. "But while I was there, you said something about how all Nessa ever did was lie. If she was such a compulsive liar, why did you believe her when she told you that what happened was my fault?"

"Well, you were always so protective of her. I just assumed that you didn't like the thought of me hurting her by leaving, and so you…" He gestured to himself, allowing his metal body to finish the sentence for him.

"First of all," she told him, "if I had been angry at you for hurting my sister, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of turning you into tin purely to get revenge. I would have taken a much simpler approach to dealing with you – something easier and less complicated, like a spell to make you fall in love with her, maybe. And secondly, even if I was angry at you for hurting my sister, what makes you think I would have acted on my anger to begin with?"

For the first time, Boq showed a hint of uncertainty. "Well, I just…that is… I thought…" he stammered.

It took a moment for Elphaba to grasp the words hidden within his incoherent reply. But then it dawned on her what he had left unsaid. "You actually believe I'm really wicked, don't you?" Certain that she had hit upon the truth, she made it a statement of fact rather than a question. And if she had had any doubts, his uncomfortable silence was all the assurance she needed that her guess was correct.

Up until now, she had been attempting to keep her temper from flaring up again. But upon realizing his true opinion of her, all thoughts of diplomacy and civility went out the window. She moved towards him slowly, narrowing her eyes. "You want to know just how _wicked_ I am?" she spat, her voice now dangerously quiet. "Let me fill in that convenient little gap in your memory. After you absolutely _devastated_ my sister by telling her that you wanted to leave her just when she thought she might finally be good enough for you to love her, she grabbed my spell book and started chanting. She wanted you to 'lose your heart to her,' you see. And you did, only not in the way she meant. The spell she cast caused your heart to shrink. You were dying right there in front of us. So she begged me to do something, _anything_, to help you. And I did. I cast another spell that would make it so you would be able to live without a heart. Yes, I'm wicked, all right. So wicked that I saved your damn life. You can believe me or not, I really don't care, but that's what happened. And a word of advice, Boq: I would highly recommend that the next time you feel like pinning blame on someone, you take the time to get your facts straight first. Other people might not be as understanding as I am about being wrongfully accused." And with a feeling of perverse satisfaction at the expression of utter shock on his face, she turned and swept out of the room without another word.

- - - - - - - - -

Glinda witnessed the confrontation between Elphaba and Boq in silence, not caring to have either of them turn their wrath on her. She was secretly glad that her emerald-skinned friend had finally gotten fed up enough with the Tin Man's childish sulking and glaring to tell him off. He had deserved every word of it, as far as Glinda was concerned. Truth be told, if Elphaba hadn't said something soon, the blonde would have willingly taken the task upon herself, because his ugly attitude was poisoning the atmosphere of the whole place.

However, the green girl's telling him what was what did not seem to have had any effect on Boq. He stood looking at the door through which she had left, his metal features twisted into a fierce scowl. Clearly her words had made no impression on him whatsoever. So Glinda decided that it would not be uncalled-for for her to give him a piece of her mind after all.

"You know, Boq, you're taking this much too far," she told him with a frown.

He turned to look at her, fixing her with a cold stare. "Begging your pardon, Miss Glinda, but I'm the one who's been turned into tin here, not you. I don't think you have any right to tell me that I'm taking it too far."

"Seeing as how I have to put up with your inexcusably rude behavior, I think I have _every_ right!" she countered, offended at his dismissive tone.

"How is my behavior 'inexcusably rude'?" he demanded indignantly.

"If you have to ask, that makes it even worse," Glinda rejoined, shaking her head in disgust. "Do you really not see how horrendibly you're acting?"

"Do _you_ really not see what a wicked person she actually is?" he shot back.

The blonde held her ground and persisted, "Even if you don't believe Elphie, at least listen to _me_. Do you honestly believe I'd be friends with her if she was actually wicked?"

"I wouldn't have thought so," the Tin Man admitted with a shake of his head. "But I've come to see a lot of things more clearly since I lost my heart."

"What exactly is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Without a heart to cloud my judgment, it's much easier to see people for what they really are," he replied. "Including you, Miss Glinda."

"Is that so? Well, then, tell me, _Master_ Tin Man, what am I really?" asked the blonde, narrowing her eyes.

"A cruel, spoiled, childish, empty-headed society princess who never thinks of anyone but herself."

Her jaw dropped at his description of her. "What a terrible thing to say! You really _are_ heartless, you… you… you pile of junk with legs!"

"The truth hurts," he shrugged, seemingly unaffected by her insult.

"But it's not true!" she insisted. Then, after a moment's thought, she amended, "Well, all right, the spoiled part may have been true, I suppose. And maybe the childish and empty-headed parts. And maybe even the part about never thinking about anyone except myself. But that was back at Shiz. I've changed since then. And even at Shiz, I was never cruel."

The Tin Man stared at her for a moment, and then burst into harsh laughter. "Never cruel?" he repeated. "Of all the things I said about you, Miss Glinda, cruel is the truest! Or have you forgotten how I got mixed up with the Witch's sister in the first place?"

"Don't call my best friend a witch," scolded Glinda. "And what does Nessa have to do with any of this?"

"Surely you remember how she and I became a couple."

"Well, of course I remember. You asked her to go with you to that party we had down at the Oz Dust Ballroom."

"I only asked her to that stupid dance because _you_ told me to!"

"What?!" Then she remembered. _Oh, that's so kind, Biq. But do you know what would be even __kinder?_... "Oh. _Oh…_"

"_Oh_, indeed," he agreed mockingly. "You foisted me off on her so you could go to the party with Fiyero. And somehow she got the idea that I'd asked her because I actually liked her. When her father died, she forced me to move into the Governor's Mansion with her. She treated me like a servant. And then, when I asked her if I could leave to come and find you, she got angry and… well, you know the rest. So you see, Miss Glinda, all the misery I went through because of her is actually your fault."

"You can't blame me for the way Nessa treated you," Glinda snapped. "It's not my fault that you didn't have the backbone to tell her that you weren't actually interested in her romantically."

"It's not like she would have let me go if I _had_ told her," the Tin Man grumbled.

"At least she wouldn't have been going around with mistaken assumptions. Then maybe she wouldn't have gotten so angry when you asked to leave."

"But it's because of you that she had those mistaken assumptions in the first place! If you hadn't tricked me into asking her to that dance, none of this would have happened to me!"

"And you said _I_ only thought about myself!"

"Being angry about what happened to me does not make me selfish!" he protested indignantly.

"Maybe not," conceded the blonde with a shrug. "But insisting on holding on to your anger does. And so does forcing your anger on everyone else."

He crossed his arms defensively as he pointed out, "If you were in my position, I think you'd be just the slightest bit upset, too!"

"I'm not denying that, Boq. But you can't go on holding grudges like this forever."

"I'd like to see you try and stop me."

Tired of trying to knock some sense through his thick metal skull, Glinda finally tossed up her hands in exasperation and turned to go. At the door, she paused and glanced back at him over her shoulder. "You know," she pointed out, "if Elphie's wicked, then you're something even worse. At least Elphie can find it in herself to forgive the people that hurt her." And with that, she spun on her heel and stalked off down the hall. The metal nuisance could stay there all alone and stew in his own self-pity, she decided with a disdainful sniff, and good riddance to him!

- - - - - - - - -

A few minutes later, still fuming, she stomped up the stairs to Elphaba's tower workroom, shoving the door open without even knocking. The green girl looked up from the Grimmerie in surprise at the sudden intrusion, but Glinda merely marched inside and slammed the door behind her.

"You won't believe what that walking scrap-heap just said to me!" she huffed at her friend's questioning look.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "By 'that walking scrap-heap,' I assume you mean Boq?"

"How many other foul-tempered, grudge-holding metal people do we know?"

"Good point."

"It was dreadful, though, Elphie, just wait until you hear!" the blonde reiterated, getting back to her story. "He called me cruel, and spoiled, and childish, and empty-headed, and he said I don't ever think of anyone except myself!"

The green girl considered Boq's accusations before replying thoughtfully, "Well, you might have been that way once. But that was back at Shiz, a long time ago. You're different now. And even back then, I don't think you were ever cruel."

"That's exactly what I told him," nodded Glinda, pleased that she and her friend were on the same page. "But then he said I _was_ cruel, because I was responsible for everything that happened between him and Nessa. Isn't that just the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard?"

She had expected her friend to agree with her immediately. But to her surprise, Elphaba remained silent for several moments, not meeting her eyes. Finally she said quietly, "Actually, Glin, I hate to tell you, and I hate even more to agree with Boq… but I'm afraid he's right."

Glinda blinked several times at the green girl's unexpected reply. "What?"

"I'm sorry, but he has a point. You started it all by getting him to ask Nessa to the Oz Dust Ballroom that night."

"How could me persuading Boq to ask Nessa on one little date have ended up with Boq getting turned into tin?" demanded the shorter girl indignantly.

"Look, I know you didn't do it to be intentionally mean, Glinda," Elphaba sighed, coming over to lay a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "But Nessa thought that Boq was really in love with her. And when she realized he wasn't, she snapped. The reason she thought he was in love with her was because he asked her to the dance. And the reason he asked her to the dance was…"

"Because I told him to," Glinda finished almost inaudibly, suddenly feeling as though she had just been slapped in the face. "Sweet Oz, it _is_ all my fault!" The full extent of her guilt struck her at that moment with crippling force, and she was helpless to do anything but burst into tears.

Elphaba made no attempt to placate her or to minimize the blonde's involvement the situation. She did, however, put her arms around her friend, allowing the shorter girl to cry on her shoulder until her sobs had quieted to mere whimpers. Finally Glinda managed to get her emotions under control and raised her head.

"Oh, Elphie, I feel just terrible!" she sniffled, swiping rather ineffectually at her nose and eyes. "I said some pretty awful things to him, too, and it turns out he was right all along. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Well, you might try apologizing to him for a start," suggested the green girl logically.

Glinda's eyebrows shot up. "Apologize to Boq? What good would that do? He probably won't even listen to me."

"Glinda, it's _Boq_. He may be a Tin Man with no heart now, but somehow I don't think he can have changed _that_ completely. He's always adored you, you know that. And deep down, so does he."

"So… you really think apologizing would work?"

"Well, it's worth a try, anyway," reasoned Elphaba. "Even with what's happened to him, I really doubt that he's forgotten how he feels about you. He must have failed basic Life Sciences if he thinks that the ability to care about people and things depends on having a physical heart."

"Thanks, Elphie." The blonde gave her friend a quick squeeze of gratitude and then stepped back. "All right, I'll go and see if I can talk to him."

- - - - - - - - -

Back downstairs, Glinda went looking for Boq, and found him in the same room where she had left him. His back was to the door, and he did not turn around when she came in. However, although he had not acknowledged her, she could tell that he knew she was there, so she gathered her nerve, swallowed hard, and began to speak.

"Listen, Boq," she began. "About earlier… I've been thinking about what you said, and I realized… you were right. You were right about all of it. Everything that happened with you and Nessa was all my fault. If I hadn't pawned you off on her the day of the dance, you wouldn't have ended up her prisoner out in Munchkinland, and you wouldn't be made out of tin now. I was so stupid back then, so naïve and childish and selfish, so wrapped up in myself and my own petty little world of _me_, what _I_ wanted, what _I_ needed…" She stopped herself before she got carried away again by her guilt, and finished quietly, "I know that what I did was wrong. I hope you can forgive me for it, although I'll understand if you can't. But I am truly and deeply sorry for the part I played in everything that's happened to you. I just wanted you to know that."

Falling silent, she waited nervously for some sort of response to her act of contrition. But Boq did not move or say a word. It was as though she had not even spoken. Finally she hung her head in disappointment and turned to leave, intending to find somewhere private to lick her wounds and regroup from her rejected attempt at an apology.

But just as she reached the door, Boq's voice behind her called, "Glinda… wait." Startled, she stopped, and turned back into the room. He was still facing away from her, so she stood there expectantly, waiting for him to continue. There was silence for several moments, and then he finally spoke again. "I know you didn't do it purposely to make me suffer. There was no way you could have known how it would turn out."

Recognizing that this was as much of a statement of forgiveness as she was likely to get from him, Glinda smiled faintly. "Thank you, Boq."

He surprised her by adding, "And maybe… maybe I went a little too far with what I said to you earlier."

"It's all right," she assured him with a shake of her head. "The things you said about me were all true. I needed to hear them."

"So I suppose we're even, then."

"I suppose so."

Then he seemed to realize something, and finally turned around to face her. "You know, it just occurred to me… you've gotten my name right the whole time we've been here."

"Yes, I guess I have," she agreed with a smile. "It's the least I can do after calling you 'Biq' the whole time we were at Shiz."

"You really have changed since those days."

"We all have."

"Some of us more than others," he pointed out wryly.

Glinda shrugged her acknowledgement of that statement. Then, recalling something Elphaba had said to her up in the tower a few minutes ago, she took a couple of steps towards him. "You know, Boq, I don't think you necessarily need a heart to feel things."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Take Elphie and Nessa for example. Even without a heart, you're still angry at them for what they did to you, aren't you?"

"Well, yes…"

"So if you can be angry at someone and even hate them without a heart, doesn't it make sense that you might be able to feel other things, too?"

He gave her a surprised look, as though he had never considered this possibility before. "Why… I suppose that _does_ make sense, now that you mention it. I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Well, now you have," Glinda replied cheerfully. "Just think about it, Boq. If you really try, I bet you can find a way to be happy even without a heart."

"I will think about it," he promised. And something in his voice assured Glinda that he meant it.

She smiled in approval of his answer, holding his eyes for a moment. Then she left and went to share the account of their meeting with Elphaba.

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	21. Pure Water Will Melt Her

**A/N: Lo, a new chapter arriveth! I know this update's taken me forever, and you may all feel free to throw virtual rocks/rotten vegetables/unruly Munchkins/etc. at me for the delay. Blame this one on my incurable laziness and writer's block.**

**Yet again, partial credit for this chapter goes to my good friend Eve, alias TheWickedWitchOfOz. Without her, Boq would still be sulking and not speaking to anyone, Glinda would still be in panic mode over… well, something about which you will learn by reading the chapter, and I would have had to think of an entirely different way to reach the planned conclusion of the story. Your input and suggestions are invaluable as always, my pretty!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. It owns me. 

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After this, a tentative peace settled over Kiamo Ko. The change in the state of affairs was a welcome one to all concerned. Granted, Boq still wasn't speaking to anyone except Glinda and occasionally Dorothy, but at least he had stopped attempting to pick fights with anyone who looked at him the wrong way.

Once things had settled down, Elphaba's ever-active mind began to work, wondering what was to be done now. The intrepid band of Witch hunters would not be able to stay at Kiamo Ko indefinitely. People would begin to suspect that something was amiss if the foursome (plus Toto) were not on their way back to the Emerald City very shortly. Either they would decide that Elphaba had somehow taken Dorothy and her friends captive or some such nonsense and send a group to storm the castle and rescue them, or someone would start to wonder if perhaps the travelers were closer to the Witch than they had let on. And neither of these options seemed as if they would deliver very agreeable results. 

Elphaba was entirely confident of her ability to defend herself against an angry mob. But either of these two possible scenarios could easily end with someone she cared about being hurt because of their relationship with her, which was something that she was determined never to let happen again. And besides that, she simply had better things to do than deal with a crowd of people wielding torches and pitchforks. They would need to formulate some sort of plan before things came to such a pass.

The question first and foremost in her mind was the main dilemma of the current situation. It seemed perfectly logical that Dorothy, Fiyero, Saryan, and Boq should return to the Emerald City as soon as possible to avoid suspicion. But what should their story be when they arrived? Before they left, they would need to come up with an altered version of what had occurred at Kiamo Ko to tell the Wizard and Morrible. Obviously Dorothy and her companions had not killed Elphaba as they had been instructed to do, and the two who had sent them were going to want to know why they had failed in their task. She would have to invent a plausible story for them to tell to explain why the Wicked Witch of the West was still alive. If Morrible and the Wizard had even the slightest suspicion that the Witch hunters were actually friends with the person they were supposed to be hunting, the consequences would be grim for all four of them, not to mention Elphaba herself, and Glinda as well.

And then, completely out of the blue, it hit her. Dorothy and her companions had not killed Elphaba as they had been instructed to do. But there was no reason why anyone else needed to know it. She and Glinda would simply disappear, leaving Kiamo Ko unoccupied once again, and the other four would journey back to the Emerald City and report that they had done away with the Wicked Witch of the West just as the Wizard and Morrible had ordered. 

At first she dismissed this idea as impossible, telling herself that it would never work. It was too easy to see through – Morrible and the Wizard would have no difficulty figuring out that her death was a hoax if they really thought about it. Furthermore, it depended on too many unpredictable elements; there was too much that could go wrong. 

But the more she thought about it, the more she began to realize that it _could_ work. The sentries at Kiamo Ko, the only people who would be able to discredit a fabricated tale of Elphaba's demise, bore no love for a reclusive ruler in a far-away city. Their only loyalty was to Fiyero's family, and now to Elphaba and Glinda as well, and the green girl was certain that, given the proper instructions, they would not reveal to anyone what had really happened. As long as Dorothy and the others did not give anything away and then vanished out of the public eye as soon as possible, and as long as she and Glinda stayed carefully hidden, no one would be the wiser.

Elphaba toyed with the idea of creating a false account of her own death, liking it better and better with every passing moment. There was definite appeal to the concept of being believed to be dead. If people thought Dorothy had killed her, they would stop hunting her. She would finally get the peace and quiet and rest she had been wanting for so long. 

And then she had an even more astonishing epiphany. Why should being presumed dead mean that she had to go skulking about in the shadows for the rest of her life? Far from being simply a relief to her on a personal level, she saw now that allowing all of Oz to think she was dead and gone could prove to be quite useful. Oh, the things she could do if she could be certain that no one was watching for her, expecting her, guarding against her! What opportunities it could open up! She could get back to her work helping the Animals who were still resisting the Wizard's laws. Surely she could really make a difference this time, if she didn't constantly have to worry about being hunted herself. Or, better still… Her eyes widened as she was suddenly struck with the best idea she'd had yet.

Rather than simply helping the Animals _resist_ the unjust restrictions… why not take it one step farther and _get rid_ of the restrictions altogether by eliminating their source?

Elphaba stood frozen for several moments, paralyzed by the thrill of the mere thought. She had come to realize a long time ago that the only way to truly stop what the Wizard and Morrible were doing to Oz would be to get them out of power altogether. And, truth be told, she had entertained the notion more than once of doing something to effect such a regime change. But the opportunity had never presented itself to put any of her ideas into action. The one time she had managed to sneak into the palace undetected had been during a special occasion, the day of Fiyero and Glinda's engagement party. On a normal day, the place was swarming with the Wizard's guards, any of whom would kill her just as soon as look at her.

But, she reflected, if she were dead, the Wizard and Morrible and their guards would not be expecting her to make an appearance. The vigilance they had always maintained against her would be greatly relaxed, perhaps even dropped altogether. It would be much easier to gain access to the palace once everyone thought she was no longer a threat. After all, as she had once heard somewhere, the most dangerous enemy is the one that isn't feared. And once she was inside the palace, she could see to it that Morrible and the Wizard paid dearly for their abuse of their power, and that they would never have the opportunity to commit such abuse again.

She was so enamored of her newly-formulated plan that for several minutes nothing could have broken through her elation. But then her excitement quickly ebbed as she realized that there was still one major flaw that would have to be factored into the equation. A flaw that, if not dealt with, would surely ruin everything. In a word, Boq. The Tin Man apparently believed everything Morrible and the Wizard had told him, and had been more than willing to fulfill their request to escort Dorothy to Kiamo Ko. Elphaba somehow found it doubtful that he would be a very willing participant in a plot that would oust both of them from power.

But all was not lost, she told herself firmly, determined not to let this golden opportunity go to waste. The problem simply became a question of winning Boq's loyalty. Her plan could still work, if she could figure out some way of convincing the Tin Man that Morrible and the Wizard were the real villains. She'd have to find someone else to do the convincing, though; there wasn't a chance in hell that Boq was going to listen to anything she had to say against the Wizard and his press secretary. Fiyero and Saryan were both out as well, because the Tin Man's opinion of them was no higher than was his opinion of Elphaba. He might be willing to listen to Dorothy, but the girl had only met Morrible once, and that had been very briefly. Elphaba doubted whether the child even completely believed what she would be trying to convince Boq of.

That left only one person: Glinda. Elphaba quickly decided that the blonde had the greatest likelihood of being able to coax Boq over to their side. He had always harbored a great deal of affection – or perhaps _obsession_ would be a more accurate choice of a word – for Glinda, and she was currently the only one for whom his feelings did not include contempt. If there was one person the Tin Man would listen to and possibly even believe, it was her. Of course, there was no predicting how Boq might react to something being said against Morrible and the Wizard, regardless of who said it, but Glinda would surely have a better chance of winning him over than any of the rest of them.

With this thought in mind, the green girl quickly sought out Glinda, Fiyero, Saryan, and Dorothy and summoned them up to her workroom for a council-of-war of sorts. Boq was nowhere to be found – he had gone off somewhere alone again, probably to throw himself yet another of the pity parties of which he seemed to be so fond. But that was just as well, really. He could not be let in on their plans just yet, not until they could be sure he wouldn't go behind their backs and ruin everything. She hustled the other four up the winding stairs and into the little room at the top of the tower. Once they were all inside, she closed the door behind them and, after casting a simple soundproofing spell on the chamber to make sure they could not be overheard, proceeded to outline the details of the plan she had concocted.

Finally she finished, and looked back and forth between them, waiting to hear their reactions. There was complete silence for a few moments as everyone attempted to wrap their minds around what she had proposed.

"It really could work," Fiyero decided thoughtfully at last. "If everyone thinks you're dead, they certainly won't be expecting anything like this."

"It definitely has the element of surprise," agreed Glinda, albeit rather hesitantly.

"It all sounds completely insane, if you ask me," Saryan opined with a nervous shake of his head. But he softened the doubtful words by adding loyally, "But if you say we can pull it off, Elphaba, then I believe you."

Surprisingly, it was Dorothy who finally dared to question part of the green girl's scheme. "But if we're going to get rid of the Wizard and Madam Morrible, then who's going to rule Oz? I mean, we can't just leave the country without a leader. Someone will have to take their place."

Three of the four other pairs of eyes in the room immediately came to rest on one person. Feeling their gazes all focused on her, Glinda's eyes widened, and she looked from person to person, as though hoping to be assured that they didn't mean what she thought they meant. "What? _Me?_ You can't be serious!"

"Oh yes we can," contradicted Elphaba. "Face it, Glin, you're the ideal person for the job, and we all know it. The people already know you and love you. They'll accept you as their new ruler much more easily than they would anyone else."

The blonde shook her head in protest. "Elphie, I don't know the first thing about running a country! I never actually made any of the important decisions. I just announced them. I was nothing more than a glorified spokesgirl of sorts."

"Well, there's an easy solution to that. Just find yourself some advisors who _do_ know about running a country. I'm sure anyone you ask will be more than willing to help you."

"How am I supposed to know who I can trust to give me good advice?"

"Just follow your instincts, Glinda. It's really not that difficult. You'll be able to tell who's trustworthy and who isn't."

"And what if it just so happens that I don't _want_ to be in charge, hmm?" Glinda burst out almost desperately. "What then, Elphie? What if ruling a country isn't what I want to do with my life? What if I don't want to have sole responsibility for the happiness and well-being of so many people? What if I don't want to spend the rest of my life trying to fix other peoples' problems and never getting to have anyone fix mine?"

By this time, the blonde was nearly shouting, and Elphaba quickly went over to lay a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "All right, Glin, all right. Calm down. No one's going to force you to do anything you don't want to."

Glinda drew a couple of deep breaths to get her emotions under control and cast the green girl a dubious look. "You promise?"

"I promise," Elphaba pledged. "If you really don't want to do it, you don't have to. But I wish you'd at least think about it."

"What's there to think about, Elphie? I already told you why I can't."

"I know you did. I was listening. But I bet you _could_, if you put your mind to it."

Glinda studied her friend's face uncertainly. "You really think I could actually rule an entire country?" she asked. Her tone was skeptical, but for the first time, she seemed to be seriously considering the idea.

"I don't _think_ so, Glin," Elphaba corrected her. "I _know_ so."

The blonde couldn't help but smile at that. "Well… I suppose being in charge of everything would have its benefits," she conceded after a moment.

Sensing that her friend's antipathy towards the idea was weakening, Elphaba continued in her most persuasive tone, "And it wouldn't have to be forever, or even for very long. You could be a sort of interim ruler if that's what you'd prefer, someone whose job is simply to hold things together until someone else can be found to take charge on a more permanent basis."

"I guess I could do that," Glinda decided, nodding rather hesitantly. "As long as it's only for a little while, and as long as I don't have to deal with any major crises."

"Oz as a whole is actually surprisingly stable at the moment," explained the green girl. "As much as I detest Morrible and the Wizard, I have to admit, not all of their policies have been bad for the country."

"Only _most_ of them," interjected Fiyero, earning himself an appreciative smirk from Elphaba, a snort of agreement from Saryan, and giggles from Glinda and Dorothy.

Then Elphaba turned back to Glinda. "My point is, I can't imagine that you'd have any serious problems on your hands. In fact, I doubt you'd really have to do much of anything, other than simply reassuring the people that everything is still going as it's supposed to."

"That's practically all they ever had me do anyway."

"You'll be a natural, then. You've already got experience. The only thing that'll be different will be that now it'll be _you_, not someone else, deciding what you say to the people."

"I always did hate only being allowed to say what they told me to…" admitted the blonde.

Elphaba nodded her understanding. "So think of this as a chance to let the people of Oz hear _your_ voice and _your_ thoughts for a change, rather than letting someone else use you to spread their propaganda."

Glinda considered this for several long moments before looking back up at Elphaba, a determination written across her features that the green girl had rarely ever seen there. "You know what, Elphie? You're absolutely right! I've got my own ideas and opinions. And they may not be very profound or well-informed, but they're every bit as good as Morrible's or the Wizard's, and they have just as much right to be heard!"

"So you'll do it?"

"I'll do it!"

This declaration prompted several minutes of excitement and frenzied discussion of what Glinda would do once she had taken the place of Oz's current rulers. But then Saryan thought of another obstacle, and voiced it aloud. "What about Boq?" The question brought everyone crashing back to reality.

"He's right," Fiyero realized. "Boq isn't going to want to help us with this. And he could ruin everything if he isn't on our side."

Elphaba nodded. "I know. But he'll be easy enough to take care of. All we have to do is convince him somehow that it's really Morrible and the Wizard who are the wicked ones, and that what we're planning is best for everyone in the long run."

"And how exactly do you propose to do that?" he wondered. "Even if we try to talk to him, he won't listen. He doesn't trust any of us."

"That's not entirely true," Elphaba pointed out, casting a significant glance at her blonde friend.

Catching on to what the green girl had in mind, Glinda jumped on this train of thought and offered, "Maybe I could try. He isn't angry at me anymore, or at least, not as much as he is at the rest of you. He might listen to me."

"He might listen," conceded Saryan, "but what will you say? How are you going to prove to him that Morrible and the Wizard are evil?"

"Tell him about what Morrible did to you, Glin," suggested Elphaba. "How she was controlling you with that spell. That ought to get his attention."

Glinda was skeptical. "You really think he'll believe it? I don't have any way of proving that it actually happened."

"I think telling him will be enough," Elphaba maintained. "Considering how he's always felt about you, the mere _thought_ of Morrible doing such a thing to you, even if he isn't entirely sure that it actually happened, should make him angry enough at her that he'll help us."

Glinda nodded. "Well, it's certainly worth a try, anyway. All right, I'll see what I can do."

The five of them dispersed then, returning to whatever they had been doing before Elphaba called them up to her tower chamber. Glinda went off in search of Boq, and Elphaba watched her go, hoping without much conviction that the blonde might succeed where the rest of them were bound to fail.

Some time later there came a knock at the door of her workroom. "Come in," she called.

The door swung open to admit Glinda, triumph written plainly all over her face. "I did it, Elphie! It worked! Boq believed me!"

"He did?" Elphaba was on her feet in an instant at this news, her grin matching her friend's. "Fantastic! Glinda, you never cease to amaze me."

"Oh, stop it," demurred the blonde modestly, but it was obvious from her expression that she was quite pleased with Elphaba's words of praise.

"So how did you do it? What did you say to him?"

"Well, I started off by asking him how Morrible and the Wizard explained it when I disappeared. Dorothy already told us what the official story was, of course, but he didn't know that, so he told me how they told everyone you had kidnapped me and killed me. I guess he bought it without question, at least until he got here. But I think finding me alive and well weakened his faith in them at least a little."

"Probably so," agreed Elphaba. "And then what happened?"

Glinda furrowed her brow as she obligingly called up her memory of the rest of the conversation. "Then I said that I used to believe what Morrible and the Wizard told me, too, and he asked what I meant by 'used to.' And then I told him about all the awful things they've done and then lied to cover up. I don't think he was really buying it at first, but eventually he started to believe me. And when I told him about Morrible using that mind-control spell on me, it was the last straw."

The green girl raised an eyebrow as she wondered, "So he didn't doubt at all that you were telling him the truth?"

"I don't think it even crossed his mind to question me," Glinda reported proudly.

"You see? I _told_ you it would work!" exulted Elphaba with a grin of satisfaction. "I knew he'd never doubt you. Like I said before, even the _idea_ of someone harming you is enough to earn them his eternal enmity."

The blonde nodded. "I think it's safe to say that Boq now hates Morrible and the Wizard every bit as much as we do. We won't have any problems now getting him to go along with our plan."

Her prediction proved correct. Having been assured of Boq's newfound loathing for Oz's ruler and his press secretary, Elphaba went with her friend to outline their scheme to the Tin Man. And after hearing about what Morrible had done to Glinda, he was more than willing to get in on the plot. His reasons for joining them may have had more to do with getting revenge on the press secretary for harming the object of his affections than with any sense of duty or concern for the country, but the green girl wasn't complaining. Boq was on their side now, whatever his motives, and because of it, her wild plan might just have a prayer of succeeding. She would take what she could get.

The only detail of the plan with which Elphaba was dissatisfied was that, in order for an account of her death to be believed, the four Witch hunters would have to return to the Emerald City in the same states in which they had left it. As much as she wanted to undo what she had done to Fiyero and Boq, finding a way to reverse the spells she had cast on them would have to wait until after the plot against Morrible and the Wizard had been seen through to its completion. It would arouse too much suspicion if Boq set out on the expedition as the Tin Man and returned as a human being, so, for the sake of the plan's success, he had to make do with his metal body for a little while longer. And, though she hated to leave him as he was, Fiyero would have to remain the Scarecrow for the time being for his own protection. The Wizard's guards had been given orders to kill him, and if he arrived in the Emerald City looking like himself, she knew they would not hesitate to finish what they had started on the day of the battle at the Animal hideout.

Although she knew that they had no chance of victory unless both of them remained in their spell-induced states, she still felt indescribably guilty that she could do nothing at the moment to change them back to normal. However, both Fiyero and Boq insisted that if remaining in their current conditions until after the Wizard and Morrible were gotten rid of would help ensure the success of the plot, then they were more than willing to do so. It didn't make her feel any better, but she appreciated that both of them (especially Boq) were being so understanding about it. She promised both of them – and herself – that the first thing she would do once Morrible and the Wizard were taken care of would be to find a way to reverse the effects of her spells.

And so the band of travelers prepared to set out once again, planning to retrace the route they had been traveling before, only in the opposite direction. Elphaba and Glinda would follow behind them in a day or two and then meet up with them to put the plan into action.

As they readied themselves for the journey, Dorothy thought of another question to put to the green girl. "What exactly should we say happened?" she asked. "If we tell them we killed you, they're going to want to know how we did it."

Realizing that the girl had a point, Elphaba considered her question for a moment. Finally she began, "Tell them…" Then a slow, devious grin spread across her face as an idea occurred to her. "Tell them you melted me. Yes, I think that will do perfectly."

Dorothy's eyebrows shot up. "Tell them I did _what?_"

"You heard me. Tell them that you threw a bucket of water on me and I dissolved into a shapeless puddle of green ooze before your very eyes."

"But… that's impossible! People can't _melt!_ No one would ever believe it."

"You'd be surprised. Didn't you hear the sordid rumors about me in the Emerald City? They say I'm so wicked that pure water could melt me."

"Yes, I did hear that," admitted Dorothy, "but I never really believed it. I mean, it just doesn't make any _sense_."

"You know that, and I know that, but I don't think the rest of Oz knows it," Elphaba quipped. "Morrible and the Wizard started that rumor themselves ages ago, and everyone bought it without question. Well, now we'll see if they believe their own lies."

"But what if they _don't_ believe it?"

"Then they'll know that I'm still alive and that I'm plotting something drastic against them, but they won't have any idea what it is or when it's going to happen, so they won't be able to do anything to stop me. They'll be running scared." 

Dorothy still looked less than convinced, but apparently decided to let herself be reassured by the green girl's confidence, and gave no reply. 

Ignoring the skepticism in the girl's expression, Elphaba continued, "Well, regardless of whether or not they believe that I melted, hearing the story from you and the others won't be enough for them. They're going to want to see concrete evidence that I'm really dead."

The child nodded at that. "Yes, the Wizard told me I'd have to bring him something to prove that I'd done what he told me to. But what can I show him?"

Elphaba entertained thoughts of several possible items, but dismissed each of them just as quickly as they had come to her. But then, finally, she hit upon it – the one thing that would convince the Wizard and Morrible that Dorothy was telling the truth, no matter how implausible it sounded. "I'll give you all the proof you'll need. Come with me."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Dorothy as she followed the green girl down to the kitchen. "What could there possibly be down here that would make the Wizard and Morrible believe you're dead?"

Elphaba glanced over her shoulder and gave the girl a simple reply. "My broom."

Dorothy's forehead creased in a frown of confusion. "What? But isn't your broom up in your tower? And besides, don't you and Glinda need it to get to the Emerald City quick enough? And why would you let the Wizard and Morrible have something that's so important to you?"

"If you'd stop pestering me with questions, maybe I could explain."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Thank you. Now then, I'm not _really_ going to give you my broom to take to them. You're right about Glinda and I needing it to follow you to the Emerald City, and about it being too important to me to give up. But that's exactly why Morrible and the Wizard will believe your story if you show up back at the palace with it. They both know I'd never willingly give up my broom as long as there's breath left in my body. So when they see you with it, they'll be forced to accept that I really am dead."

"But if you're not really going to give me your broom, then what _are_ you going to give me?"

"A different broom. Neither of them have seen mine enough to be able to tell the difference between it and another broom. They won't notice if the one you give them isn't really mine."

By this time, they had reached the kitchen. Elphaba went over to a storage closet in the corner and, after a moment or two of rummaging, produced the broom she had been seeking. Sticking the bristled end into the wood-burning stove, she lit it on fire, and then laid it carefully on the floor where the burning broom couldn't harm either of them. After letting it smolder for a minute, she doused the flames with water from the teakettle, which was sitting filled next to the stove, awaiting the next person who might want something hot to drink.

Dorothy gave her a puzzled look. "What'd you burn it all up like that for?"

"Just adding an artistic touch, if you will," Elphaba replied. "You can tell Morrible and the Wizard that I lit my broom on fire and then tried to burn the Scarecrow with it, and you threw the water on him to save him, and it happened to splash me in the process and melted me."

Dorothy shook her head with a bewildered expression, as though wondering how in Oz Elphaba managed to come up with such convoluted ideas seemingly out of thin air. However, she wisely kept her mouth shut, and merely stooped to pick up the charred remnants of the broom before trailing back upstairs behind the green girl.

And so, not very much time later, they all stood in the courtyard, bidding each other goodbye before they went their separate ways to prepare for their various parts in the plot to overthrow Morrible and the Wizard. Elphaba clung fiercely to Fiyero for a moment, wishing desperately that she didn't have to be separated from him again, and he held her just as tightly. But she had to let him go, of course; otherwise their plan could never work. 

Besides, she attempted to reassure herself as she and Glinda watched the other four set off back the way they had come, this separation wasn't like the last. This time she knew where he was going and what he would be doing once he got there, and more importantly, she knew she would see him again in a matter of a relatively few days. As long as they all did exactly as she had instructed them, there was no reason why anything should go wrong.

Of course, as she had remarked during the night that she and Fiyero had spent in the forest on their way to see Nessa, there were times when she wondered if he had any sense of caution at all. He certainly hadn't obeyed her request to be careful during the battle at the Animal camp. _Well, I certainly hope he's learned his lesson about acting without thinking,_ she thought to herself a bit snidely, _because if being turned into a Scarecrow didn't teach him, I don't think anything ever will!_

Once the little band of travelers was out of sight, Elphaba took a deep breath and firmly refocused her mind. Things were out of her hands now, at least for a little while. She would simply have to trust that Fiyero, Boq, Saryan, and Dorothy would be able to fulfill their part of the plot and make sure things went as planned until she and Glinda arrived. There was nothing more she could do at the moment, so standing there fretting wouldn't accomplish anything. Glinda seemed to sense her resolve, because she turned to look up at her taller friend, and together the two witches headed back inside Kiamo Ko to finish their own preparations.

* * *

**Dun-dun-duuuuuuuuhn! Will the big takeover plot be successful? Will Fiyero and Boq ever be human again? (Will anyone catch the blatant musical reference in that last sentence?) Can Glinda really rule a country? All these questions and more will be answered in the final four chapters of "Lost and Found!" **

**Yes, that's right, folks, there are only FOUR MORE CHAPTERS TO GO! But have no fear, readers mine, because I've already planned out a short little few-chapter-long piece to come after it, and then after that will come… .: drumroll :. A SEQUEL!!**

**A happy and healthy Easter to all who celebrate it! Now be good little readers and stuff my Easter basket with loverly reviews!**


	22. Talent Is A Gift

**A/N: My laptop got sick at the end of last week and had to go away to the doctor, but now it has returned to me with a clean bill of health, and I'm so thrillified to have it back that I decided share my excitement with all of you lucky readers in the form of a new chapter!**

**I don't have much to say about this particular installment, except that I've known it was coming since I first started planning this story, and I can't possibly put into words how much I thoroughly adored writing it. About two-thirds of this has been written since probably last summer, which shows you how much I was looking forward to this part of the story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.**

**Anyone who catches the Shrek quote or the (paraphrase of) one from Captain Jack Sparrow gets cookies.**

**Disclaimer: Hey, guess what? I just found out that Greg, Winnie, and Steve have agreed to sell me the rights! APRIL FOOLS!! (Ha ha, I got you there for a clock-tick, didn't I? No?... Well, fine then, be that way.)**

* * *

When Elphaba and Glinda arrived in the Emerald City, it was not at all difficult to get news of their friends. The entire city was talking about them. Dorothy and her three companions had become national heroes overnight with their tale of how they had "liquidated" the Wicked Witch of the West. And it seemed that everyone, including the Wizard and Morrible, had accepted their story without a single qualm. No one stopped to consider how absolutely improbable – how downright _impossible_, in fact – the concept of a person _melting_ really was. Elphaba was appalled, as usual, by the utter lack of intelligence shown by the citizens of Oz, but in this case, their gullibility was playing right into her plans, so for now she was blessing it just as much as she cursed it.

Once they had determined where the others could be found (they were staying in the palace, as honored guests of the Wizard himself), the two girls engaged themselves a room in a modest hotel nearby. Not a single person recognized Glinda without her trademark elaborate ballgowns and ever-present wand, a fact which caused the blonde no little distress, and which afforded Elphaba no little amusement. _So, clothes __do__ make the man… or the woman, as the case may be,_ she mused with a smirk. _Without all the fancy trappings, Glinda could just as easily be a Munchkinlander girl fresh off her family's farm as she could the ruler of Oz. Although, come to think of it, she might be a bit on the tall side for your average Munchkin…_

Their plan necessitated that they keep their identities a secret from everyone until they managed to get an audience with Morrible, so in addition to Glinda being forced to abandon her fashionable attire, Elphaba took the precaution of masking her green skin with a disguising spell. This particular incantation had often proved useful in the past when she had found it necessary to venture into one village or another for supplies. She didn't particularly enjoy using the spell; it made her feel strange and unfamiliar with herself, as though she was a stranger inside her own skin. But for an occasion as momentous as this, she was willing to make some sacrifices. And the disguising spell served her well once again, lending the last perfect touch of credibility to their charade. With Glinda clad in a plain cotton dress and Elphaba's distinctive skin appearing the same tone as anyone else's, the pair easily passed for two ordinary girls who could have been from anywhere in Oz.

Their need for anonymity also meant that they were forced to go about gaining entrance to the palace through the official channels just like every other ordinary citizen of Oz. They were given veritable mountains of forms to fill out, a task which Elphaba completed while Glinda sat and watched her, occasionally interjecting a comment or a complaint. Then there were all the ridiculous lines they had to wait in. And just when it seemed they might finally be getting somewhere, another hoop inevitably appeared that they had to jump through. It was enough to drive anyone mad.

Finally, after what seemed like endless days of paperwork and lines and sneaking into one or another of their friends' rooms at night with the help of Elphaba's broom for visits and midnight strategizing sessions, the two girls found themselves at the front of the queue. They presented the proper forms to the guard at the gate, and he scanned them carefully before giving a curt nod and allowing them to pass. When they entered the palace, they encountered a young guard at a station just inside the door, and Elphaba stepped forward to speak for both of them.

"We'd like to see Madam Morrible, please," she informed the young man.

"Yes, you and everyone else," the guard drawled boredly, not even deigning to look up from whatever official paperwork he was in the middle of. (It looked suspiciously like a crossword puzzle.) "Well, let's have your papers." He paused a moment before adding, "You _do_ have your papers all in order, don't you?"

Elphaba nodded her assurance. "I highly doubt we'd have made it this far if we didn't," she pointed out, earning herself a 'hmph' of agreement, and flopped the sheaf of papers down onto his desk where he could see them.

The young guard shuffled through the stack several times, looking everything over with practiced scrutiny. Apparently he found nothing wrong, because finally he scrawled something across the top paper and stamped several others with a flourish. Then he looked up for the first time and studied the two of them dubiously. "Well, I can't make any promises, you understand," he began. "But everything seems to be in order, so I suppose I'll take you on up to the press secretary's office and let you try your luck."

"We're much obliged, I'm sure," Elphaba thanked him. The guard nodded and rose from his seat. Reluctantly laying aside his crossword, he motioned for them to follow him, and then set off down the hall. She took a quick glance at the puzzle he had left open on his desk. After studying it for a moment, she picked up his pencil and helpfully filled in the answer to one of the clues he had left blank, and then hurried to catch up with her friend.

Before long, they arrived at a set of ornate double doors. Their guide opened them and showed them through into a large antechamber, where they discovered a smaller door even more opulent than the first pair. This was presided over by a different guard, and here their escort left them, eager to return to his crossword puzzle and blissfully ignorant of the fact that he had just assisted in the early stages of a palace coup. Well, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

This time it was Glinda who stepped forward to do the talking, putting on her sweetest smile and most flattering tone. But unfortunately, the first guard had been much more lenient and willing to listen than the second one appeared. Whereas the first had been a young man, probably not far from their own ages, this fellow was a grizzled, middle-aged veteran of the Wizard's guards, and he seemed to have effectively mastered the art of implacability.

"It's just not possible," he insisted for the third time, remaining unmoved by all of the blonde's requests and pleas. The two girls looked at each other, stymied and beginning to grow frustrated at the unforeseen roadblock.

Elphaba saw that if their operation was to continue as planned, it would be up to her to get things back on track. She came forward and laid a hand on Glinda's arm. "Let me handle this," she said quietly. The blonde nodded and stepped back slightly, and Elphaba stood alone, face-to-face with the guard. "Now then, sir, we'll say this one more time: it is of the _utmost_ importance that we see Madam Morrible _at_ _once_."

"Now you listen here, missy," the guard sighed wearily. "I don't know why you think you're going to do any better than your friend at convincing me to let the two of you in to see the press secretary. Madam Morrible gave specific orders that she was not to be disturbed for _any_ reason. I have a feeling she wouldn't welcome being barged in on even by that Dorothy girl and her three friends, and I can only imagine what she'd do to me if I let a couple of common lasses like you in to see her. I'm sorry, I really am, but she's not seeing any visitors today."

"Oh, I think she'll see _me_," Elphaba assured him confidently. "You see, we're old friends. I knew her back when she was headmistress at Shiz University. She gave me private sorcery lessons."

The guard gave a patronizing chuckle, which did nothing whatsoever to endear him to her. "Did she, now? And, supposing I _were_ to consider asking her if she wants to see you, which of her _beloved _former students might I say had come to visit?"

"You can just tell her that Elphaba Thropp is here." And with that, Elphaba drew herself up to her full height and allowed the disguising spell to dissolve, revealing her green skin.

The effect of this simple action on the hapless guard was astonishing. His eyes grew as wide as saucers, and his face turned about three shades paler. He backed away from her until he ran into the door behind him, his terrified gaze never leaving her face. "Sweet Oz! You… you're… you're _her!_ The Wicked Witch of the West!" he stammered, hardly able to get the words out in his fear.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," she quipped dryly. Then, solely for her own amusement, she took a couple of slow, menacing steps closer to the man, enjoying watching him squirm uncomfortably at her nearness. His panic appeared to have him momentarily paralyzed, and she let him sweat for a few clock-ticks before leaning closer still and prompting helpfully in a near-whisper, "If I'm not very much mistaken, I believe this is the part where you run away."

The guard needed no further urging. He was off and running almost before the last word had left her mouth, pushing past her and nearly knocking Glinda over in his haste to get away. They watched his rapidly-retreating form until he was out of sight.

"Pride of the Wizard's guard, _that_ one is," Elphaba commented sarcastically when he was gone. "Took to his heels at the slightest hint of danger… and I hadn't even _begun_ to threaten him yet."

The corners of her mouth turning upwards, Glinda remarked, "I think you were more than frightening enough without making any threats, Elphie."

Elphaba replied with a grin and a cackle. "Why, thank you, dearie."

"Won't he go running around now telling everyone you're here?" wondered the blonde then, a bit puzzled as to why her friend would advertise her presence when the success of their entire plan depended so heavily on secrecy.

"Oh, most probably," Elphaba nodded. "But who'll listen to him? Everyone believes I'm dead, and they're perfectly happy thinking so. They'll ignore anything that would force them to think otherwise. And even if someone happens to believe him and comes up to investigate, that masking spell is childishly simple. I can have it back in place in ten seconds flat. People will either think the poor guard has lost his mind, or if they actually believe him, they'll think it's my ghost that he saw."

"Which would be just as bad as you really being here," Glinda realized.

"If not worse," the green girl agreed cheerfully. "You can't kill someone who's already dead. And even if you could, who'd want to risk messing with the ghost of a witch? No, I highly doubt that anyone's going to bother us." She reached out and tested the doorknob as stealthily as she could, pleased to find it unlocked. "Well, shall we?" The blonde motioned for Elphaba to go first, so she swung the door open and strode into the press secretary's office with her head held high. Glinda followed her inside and, at a gesture from her friend, kept to the shadows just on one side of the door to watch what ensued.

Madam Morrible was seated at an extravagant wooden desk, apparently engrossed in the papers she was reading. "I _told_ you that I was not to be disturbed for _any_ reason," she snapped irritably without looking up, obviously assuming that they were the guard who was supposed to be outside her door.

Elphaba lost no time in disabusing her of that notion. "You mean you haven't been expecting me?" she quipped. "Well, it would seem that I've greatly overestimated your intelligence, Morrible."

The press secretary's head shot up at the unexpected voice. When she saw Elphaba standing there wearing a most unnerving expression of satisfaction, her face turned the same pasty shade as her hair, and she bolted to her feet, knocking over her desk chair in her haste. "It can't be! You… you're… you're…"

"Dead?" finished Elphaba. "No, I actually happen to be very much alive, no thanks to you. You know, Morrible, sending that Dorothy girl to do me in was no less than the fourth time you've tried to have me killed. It really has to stop – it's gotten downright irritating."

The press secretary was growing paler by the second. "But… the child… she swore to us that she'd killed you! She and the others all said they'd watched you die with their own eyes!"

"You should know better than anyone that you can't believe everything you hear. As it so happens, they told you exactly what I told them to tell you."

"Then… the melting… it was all a hoax?" Morrible croaked.

"Please!" scoffed Elphaba. "You didn't honestly believe that a bucket of plain water could really have _melted_ me, did you? In case you've forgotten, you generated that particular rumor yourself. Regardless of what the Wizard might say, just because everyone believes something, that doesn't make it true." She paused, and smiled unpleasantly. "Although you're going to _wish_ I had melted by the time I'm through with you."

"You… you can't do anything to me! There's a guard right outside the door – I'll scream, and he'll be in here in less than a clock-tick!"

"A guard? Would you by any chance mean the guard that ran away in abject terror the moment he realized who I was?" The press secretary's hopeful expression fell, and Elphaba smirked. "I thought so." She gestured to the upended desk chair. "Have a seat, Morrible. We've got a lot to discuss."

By this time, Morrible had recovered some of her composure, and glared at the green girl defiantly. "You can't just march in here and presume to order me around, you little – "

"I'm afraid you must have misunderstood me," Elphaba interrupted, her voice now dangerously quiet. "That was not a request. I said _have a seat,_ Morrible."

Without warning, the chair righted itself seemingly of its own accord. It slid forward as though it had a mind of its own, catching Morrible behind the knees and forcing her to collapse onto it before scooting itself up to the desk with the press secretary still sitting in it. Indignantly, she went to push it back and stand up again, only to discover that she was apparently incapable of any movement whatsoever.

Her face went chalk-white once more, followed by a delightful and most gratifying shade of red as she realized that her current immobility was courtesy of the emerald-skinned woman in front of her. "Why, you – !"

"Now, as long as you're just… _sitting around_," Elphaba smirked, "listen closely." She planted her hands palms-down on the press secretary's desk and leaned across it to speak right into Morrible's face. "You're finished, Morrible. Do you understand me? You're finished corrupting Oz. You're finished helping the Wizard degrade and destroy the Animals. You're finished making my life and the lives of the people I care about a living hell. You'll never be able to cause that kind of damage to anyone or anything ever again."

"That's what _you_ think," sneered the press secretary. She had not stopped struggling against the immobility spell, and now she uttered a string of words that the green girl recognized at once as the incantation that would undo the invisible bonds. Elphaba tensed inwardly and prepared to defend herself against whatever magic Morrible might throw at her once she was free.

But nothing happened. Morrible remained firmly fixed to her seat, no more capable of moving than she had been before chanting the spell to release herself.

The press secretary looked as shocked by this unexpected turn of events as Elphaba was. She quickly recited the counter-spell again, louder and more desperately this time, but her efforts produced no better results than they had the first time. "What… what's going on?" She fixed the green girl with a furious and terrified glare. "What have you done to me now, you wretched girl?!"

"_Me?_ What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" Elphaba shot back, incensed. She was certainly not at all upset over the new development, but this was one magical feat with which could honestly say she had not been involved.

Morrible scoffed in disbelief. "Well, _I_ certainly didn't do it, whatever it is! It _must_ have been you!"

The green girl's forehead creased in thought as she racked her brain for any possible explanation. For several long moments, she could not think of any reason why Morrible's spell shouldn't have worked. But then it hit her out of nowhere, and she knew at once that she had uncovered the answer. The solution came to her as part of a distant memory of a long-ago sorcery lecture, a lecture given by the very same woman who now sat before her. The irony was so perfect that she couldn't hold back a rather wicked grin of delight.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken once again, Morrible," she told her former professor, shaking her head in mock disappointment. "You brought this upon yourself."

"_What?!_ I most certainly did not!" protested the older woman vehemently.

"Ah, but you did," Elphaba maintained. "And it serves you just exactly right after everything you've done. Do the words 'talent is a _gift_' ring any bells?"

"No, why should…" And then, all at once, the dreadful light dawned, and Morrible, too, understood. The green girl took great pleasure in watching every ounce of color drain from her face. She was _really_ terrified now. "Oh, no… _no_…"

"Oh, yes. You're the one who told me such a thing was possible. Can there be any doubt that that's what's happened to you now?"

"But… how can this be? I don't understand!"

"Well, let's reason it out, shall we?" Elphaba perched on top of the mammoth desk, an action that she knew would annoy the press secretary immensely, and sarcastically assumed the air of a professor delivering a lecture to a sadly unintelligent class. "You yourself told me back in our sorcery seminar that only the worthy are blessed with the gift of magical powers that make them truly superior sorcerers and sorceresses. You also told me that, should the recipient of said gift prove unworthy, a person's powers can be taken away.

"Now, let's consider how you've been using your gift recently. You used your magic to create the cyclone that killed my sister in an attempt to lure an innocent woman – me, in case you were wondering – into a trap. Then you cast that mind-controlling spell on Glinda in another attempt to do the same." She shook her head and tsked in disapproval. "I hardly think those incidents could be considered worthy uses of your gift, do you? And I'd venture to guess that you haven't tried to use your powers since then. You hardly needed that locating spell you mentioned to find me after Dorothy came to you, what with all the rumors that must have been flying around. That would explain why you didn't know until now that they had been taken away."

"But… but… _you_ used _your_ powers to kill Glinda!" Morrible reminded her, sputtering. "That's worse than anything I did! I never killed anyone outright! If anyone here should have lost her powers, it's you!"

Elphaba frowned briefly at the recollection. "You seem to have forgotten everything you ever taught me in sorcery class," she observed. "I distinctly remember you saying that using your powers to kill in self-defense or to protect your loved ones is not grounds for them to be taken away. By using that spell to kill Glinda, I was protecting her – from you. You, on the other hand, have far overstepped the boundaries of what it's acceptable to do with your powers. You've used them to hurt innocent people while trying to get to yet another innocent person. _That_ is why you've lost your magic and I still have mine."

Morrible was not a woman who would concede defeat without putting up a valiant fight. That one trait, at least, she had in common with her green-skinned former protégé, though otherwise they couldn't have been more different. But even she had to admit when she was well and truly beaten. And this time she had not stood a chance, what with the apparent intervention of fate or some other unknown force. She began to thrash about again in the chair to which she was still affixed. This time, however, her struggling was much feebler as she began to realize that all her willpower and effort would do her no good. All alone and without the use of her magic, especially against a sorceress as powerful as Elphaba, she was nothing but a helpless and rather weak old woman. She looked back up at the green girl, and although she tried to mask it, there was no disguising the genuine fear that now lurked behind her eyes.

Elphaba did not fail to notice the new respect with which Morrible was regarding her, and allowed herself to bask in the warm glow of satisfaction that it afforded her. She finally had the press secretary right where she had wanted her for a long time now. "I really would be entirely justified in killing you this instant after all you've done to me," she mused aloud, though she was talking as much to Morrible as to herself. "But that would be unnecessarily wicked of me. So, just to prove to you how _good _I am, I'm going to show you more mercy than you ever showed me or any of your other victims, and let you live." Then all traces of her enjoyment of the situation seemed to vanish in an instant. Now deadly serious, she bent even closer and lowered her voice to a threatening near-whisper. "But know this, you wicked old hag. If you _ever_ so much as _think_ about harming someone I love again – and believe me, I'll know it if you do – I swear to you right here and now that I will end your miserable, pathetic, worthless life with my own hands, and I will thoroughly enjoy every last second of doing it. And there is nothing in this world or any other that will be able to save you."

Terror flashed for a moment in the older woman's eyes at this promise, made in unmistakable earnest. But she quickly hid it and sent Elphaba a murderous look from her position in the chair, attempting to salvage at least a bit of her dignity. "You may have won for now, dearie," she snarled, "but that doesn't mean you'll always be so lucky. You've gotten the better of me this time, but don't forget, it cost you your precious Miss Glinda."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow at this comment, and then remembered that Morrible did not know yet of Glinda's return from the dead. She allowed the corners of her mouth to curve upwards in a smirk of pure triumph. Casting a look at the shadows where the blonde had been hidden all this time, watching silently, she gave a slight jerk of her head, indicating that her friend should join the discussion.

xXxXx

Glinda was only too happy to oblige when Elphaba gestured to her to reveal herself. She stepped out from her hiding place and into the sight of the room's other occupants.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Morrible," she grinned, relishing the utter shock and dismay that crossed the press secretary's face as she realized that the last shred of victory at which she had been grasping had disintegrated.

"No! That's… that's impossible!" Morrible gasped weakly, clearly having had all the unpleasant surprises she could take for one day.

"Apparently not," Glinda contradicted in a tone that pretended to be apologetic, "because here I am."

Elphaba observed the encounter with a proprietary interest. "Glinda," she directed then, "call the guards in and have them get her out of here."

"But Elphie, no one recognizes me dressed like this. If I call the guards, they'll never believe it's me," the blonde pointed out. "Now, if I just had a way to get down to my room and grab one of my gowns…"

An idea struck. Elphaba grinned. "I've got it! Hold still, Glinda."

Glinda frowned slightly. "What? Elphie, what are you – "

But Elphaba cut her off with a look, and the blonde sighed and obediently stopped moving. "Thank you. All right, this'll just take a clock-tick…" She closed her eyes for a moment and focused her energy to gather her powers. Then, with a smile that bordered on a smirk, she made a magical gesture in Glinda's direction, almost as though she was waving a wand, and proclaimed, "Ballgown!"

The air around the blonde began to shimmer, and it seemed almost to be shaping itself, a solid substance coming into being where before there had been empty space. In mere seconds, Glinda was dressed in an exact replica of the pale blue ballgown she had worn the day they met at the scene of Nessa's death, complete with a tiara, an elegant hairdo, and, of course, her wand. Elphaba grinned proudly, obviously quite satisfied with her work.

Glinda gaped at her new attire for several moments, her jaw hanging open slightly. Finally she looked up at her friend, and her eyes narrowed. "You're mocking me, aren't you?" she asked, sounding as though she couldn't decide whether to be furious or burst into laughter.

"Only a little," replied Elphaba, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Showoff," the blonde muttered petulantly.

The green girl shrugged and admitted with a laugh, "Guilty as charged. Now, would you care to do the honors?"

Every derogatory remark Morrible had ever made, every lie she'd ever told, every hurtful thing she'd ever done, came rushing back to Glinda's memory. "I would be delighted, Elphie," she replied, narrowing her eyes at the press secretary in an expression as close to a snarl as she would ever come. Now it was Elphaba's turn to conceal herself in a dark corner, and once her friend was safely out of sight, the blonde went and threw open the door of Morrible's office. "GUARDS!" she bellowed, in a tone and at a volume that surprised even her, before turning back into the room.

Thinking that Glinda might be a bit more inclined to listen to reason than her verdant companion, Morrible cast the girl a look of outright begging. "Glinda, _dear,_ I know we've had our miniscule differentiations in the past…" she began with an ingratiating smile.

But Glinda would have none of it. Morrible had wreaked havoc on her life and that of her best friend, and now, so help her Oz, the woman was going to pay for her crimes. Back in possession of her ballgown, tiara, and wand, the blonde wielded an unquestionable authority, and she cut off the press secretary's plea in mid-sentence. "Madam," she wondered thoughtfully, "have you ever wondered how you'd fare in captivity?"

"What?" Morrible gave her a blank look that was really almost pitiable in its utter incomprehension. The events of the last few minutes appeared to have upset her so greatly that her mind was in no condition to process anything at the moment.

"_Cap – ti – vi – ty_," repeated Glinda, stressing each syllable as though speaking to a very small and very mentally deficient child. When Morrible showed no sign that she had understood, she clarified, "_Pri – son_." Casting an appraising glance over the older woman, she sniffed disdainfully. "I can't _imagine_ you'd hold up very well." Then she remembered what the former sorcery professor had said at the Oz Dust Ballroom so long ago when she brought Glinda (then Galinda) her training wand. Mimicking Morrible's accent so flawlessly that it was almost cruel, she turned the press secretary's cutting words from that night back on her. "You see, it is my _personal_ opinion that you do not have _what it takes_. I hope you prove me wrong. I doubt you will!" Then, turning to the guards who had come jogging in to answer her summons, she ordered in a victorious near-shriek, "_Take her away!_"

Elphaba must have lifted the immobility spell from her hiding place at the last second, because the guards had no trouble lifting Morrible out of her desk chair and dragging her out the door. When they were gone, Elphaba reemerged, and the two witches listened with satisfied grins as the sound of the _former _press secretary's impotent howls receded down the corridor.

"A job well done, if I do say so myself," Glinda proudly congratulated both herself and her friend.

Elphaba nodded her agreement, her thoughts already moving ahead to their next task. "One down, and one to go."

* * *

**Coming up in Chapter 22 of Lost and Found: Elphaba and Glinda confront the Wizard! Oh, there's big doings afoot – you don't want to miss it!**

**Psst… hey, your shoe's untied. **

**No, seriously, I mean it. Your shoe's untied. **

**Look at it, it's untied, I swear!**

**APRIL FOOLS!**

**Got you again, didn't I? I know at least one person somewhere out there looked at their feet just because I told them to. Don't be ashamed to 'fess up!**

**Oh, and REVIEW PLEASE! That is all.**


	23. The Wizard and I

**A/N: Another installment that I thoroughly enjoyed writing. I've always been frustrated that the musical doesn't fully give closure (mainly to a certain green girl) on the major issue of this chapter, so I decided to exercise my supreme executive authority as authoress and do it the way I think it should have been done. **

**I know I didn't go into nearly as much detail over thoughts and emotions in this chapter as I usually do, but I figured they were pretty apparent from the things that are done and said. After all, actions speak louder than words, right?**

**Anyone who finds the little Aida moment I snuck in gets a cookie.**

**Well, I think that's about all from me, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Only in my wildest dreamings.**

* * *

Now that Morrible had been taken care of, it was time to deal with the other half of the country's corrupt ruling partnership – the man who called himself the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Elphaba and Glinda made their way stealthily from the press secretary's office down to the throne room, where they were sure they would find him.

When they arrived, the place seemed to be deserted. The girls ventured in cautiously, prepared for anything. What they found, however, was the last thing either of them had been expecting. The Wizard was sitting on the edge of platform on which his giant mechanical head was mounted, elbows resting on his knees, head bowed. He appeared to be deep in thought.

Elphaba stepped forward to stand in front of him. The Wizard looked up at her approach, but showed no sign of being the least bit surprised when he saw who his unannounced visitor was. In fact, he greeted her with a faint smile. "I've been expecting you," he said simply.

"Well, then, at least you're smarter than your press secretary," she replied. "She seemed rather startled when I walked into her office a little while ago."

"No, I'm not smarter," he disagreed. "I just have more common sense. Where I come from, common sense is drummed into you practically from the moment you're born. It's a necessity. And it doesn't take much of it to figure out that Dorothy and her friends were lying. I mean, really – a person _melting?_ It just couldn't happen."

"It would appear that the rest of Oz believes otherwise," Elphaba pointed out.

The Wizard shrugged. "That's hardly my fault. Madam Morrible thought up that crazy rumor, not me."

"Of _course_ it's not your fault," she agreed in a tone dripping with sarcasm, casting her eyes briefly towards the ceiling. "Nothing ever is! Just like it _wasn't your fault_ that you tricked me into giving your monkeys wings so you could use them as spies, or that you imprisoned Doctor Dillamond until he lost his ability to speak, or that you ordered Dorothy to kill me. Have you ever taken responsibility for anything in your life? Have you ever once owned up to a mistake you made and then tried to set things right?"

"My dear child," he replied, sounding rather mournful, as he climbed to his feet, "don't you understand? The Great and Terrible Oz doesn't _make _mistakes. I _can't._ If I made mistakes, how could I still be wonderful? The people want a leader who's never wrong, who always knows what to do. If they found out I'm not perfect, they wouldn't think of me as a wizard anymore. I'd just be –"

"Human?" supplied Elphaba.

The Wizard nodded. "Exactly. I'd lose all my power."

Her response to that was a derisive chuckle. "Power? What power? You admitted to me the first time I met you that you don't have any power at all. And we both know perfectly well that that's as true today as it was then."

"Maybe so," he conceded. "But Elphaba, it's not power itself that's truly important. It's the _illusion_ of power. As long as people _believe_ you're powerful, it doesn't matter if you really _are_."

"Of course it matters whether you really have the power you say you have!" contradicted Elphaba vehemently. "If you're not as powerful as you claim to be, someone's bound to figure it out sooner or later, and then where does that leave you?"

"At the mercy of the person who was smart enough to see through your façade, I suppose," he conjectured, giving the green girl a wry look.

She couldn't help but smirk at his answer, given the current situation. "You really _have_ been expecting me."

"When Dorothy showed back up in my throne room asking me to believe that she'd melted you, I was pretty certain you'd be paying me a visit eventually. It was only a question of when. And lo and behold, here we are, and I'm gratified to see that I was right. So." He spread his hands in a gesture of inquiry. "What happens now?"

Elphaba met his frank gaze unflinchingly and replied, "Now you start learning that everyone has to pay for their mistakes sooner or later. Even the Wonderful Wizard of Oz."

"So you're going to do to me what I can only assume you did to Madam Morrible, then?"

"Now, where would the fun be in telling you what I have planned? You'll enjoy it so much more if you don't know what's coming."

The Wizard's face remained impassive at this; only a slight, involuntary clenching of his hands betrayed that Elphaba's remark had shaken him. But the small movement caught the eye of Glinda, who had been observing from a little behind her friend. And once her attention had been drawn to his hands, she couldn't help but notice the little green glass bottle he was clutching.

She had seen him with it before, she recalled, on the day Fiyero had left the palace with Elphaba. The Wizard had offered her a drink to ease the pain of her ex-fiancé's desertion. She had refused, naturally – she had her image of goodliness to maintain, after all – but, looking back on that day, she remembered thinking that she had seen a bottle like that somewhere before. But she hadn't been able to recall where.

Now, however, her mind was much clearer than it had been at the time, and something – perhaps it was the sight of her best friend and the Wizard in the same room – prompted a scrap of a memory to work itself loose…

"_Now __you__ tell __me__ a secret," prompted Galinda, bouncing up and down a little next to her new friend in her excitement._

"_Like what?" Elphaba wondered with a short, awkward-sounding laugh._

_The blonde stood and innocently moved towards the head of her roommate's bed. "Like…" Then she slipped her hand as nonchalantly as possible underneath the pillow and pulled out the object her fingers curled around before finishing in a triumphant tone, "…why do you sleep with this funny little green bottle under your pillow?"_

_Elphaba was on her feet in an instant, her eyes wide with horror, looking more desperate than her roommate had ever seen her. "Give that back, Galinda!" she demanded frantically._

_But Galinda shook her head in refusal, an impish smile on her face. "C'mon, tell!" she wheedled, dangling the bottle just out of the green girl's reach. "Tell, tell!"_

"_Give it __back!" Elphaba's height gave her an obvious advantage over the blonde in the impromptu game of keep-away. She made another grab for the bottle, and finally managed to get her hands on it. Snatching it away from the shorter girl, she turned her back and curled up on her bed, cradling it against her body protectively. "It was my mother's," she offered in a near-whisper after a moment or two, in an attempt to explain her panic at Galinda's taking the bottle. "That's all."_

Her mind reeling from the abrupt realization and the speed with which it was suddenly making certain connections, Glinda rushed forward and grabbed her friend by the arm. "Elphie, wait! Before you do anything else… there's something very important I think you need to know…"

"What are you talking about, Glinda?" Elphaba asked, giving the shorter girl a puzzled look.

The blonde drew a deep breath. "Now, I _just_ figured this out, as in right this very minute, so please don't get mad at me for not telling you sooner."

"All right…"

"Do you have your little green bottle with you?"

Elphaba's expression was growing more confused by the moment. "It's right here in my satchel. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Get it out."

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

The green girl quirked an eyebrow quizzically at the force with which Glinda spoke these last words, but didn't question her friend farther. Reaching into the satchel that hung at her hip, she produced the item in question. Satisfied, the blonde stepped aside, content to watch events unfold from here. She had done all she needed to; she had set things into motion, and now she sensed that the rest would come on its own.

Her assumption was quickly proven correct. When the Wizard caught sight of the bottle in the green girl's hand, his eyes widened in shock. He staggered back a step or two, his face paled dramatically, and he stared at Elphaba as though he was seeing a ghost. "Where… where did you get that?" he demanded, his voice shaking.

"It belonged to my mother," Elphaba told him, too bewildered by his reaction to the simple glass bottle in her hand to remember that she didn't owe him any explanations. "She gave it to one of our servants just before she died so it would be kept safe, along with instructions to make sure it would be passed on to me when the time was right. The servant decided when I was six that I was old enough to take proper care of it, so she gave it to me. I've had it ever since."

"But… but that's impossible…" he whispered, as though to himself, shaking his head.

By this time, Elphaba was more than a little piqued at being the last to find out about the apparent underlying significance of what, to her, was a mere trinket, any appreciable worth it might hold measurable only in sentimental value. "Would someone care to let me in on what's going on here? Because both of you clearly know something I don't."

The Wizard extended his hand without a word, allowing her to see the small green glass bottle he held. Intrigued, she cautiously held hers next to it… and nearly dropped it in her shock.

The two bottles were a perfect match.

The conclusion to be drawn from this was obvious. The bottle that Elphaba had gotten from her mother had clearly come from the man in front of her, as evidenced by the fact that hers was identical to the one he held. Surely there was a reason why Melena had taken such pains to ensure that hers would be passed down to her daughter. She wouldn't have gone to such trouble over something that held significance only for herself. No, there must have been some deeper reason, some underlying message that she was trying to pass along. Perhaps she had been hoping that someday Elphaba would come across the person who possessed her bottle's twin. Perhaps this person knew something important about her mother that they were supposed to tell her.

Or perhaps… perhaps the message Melena had been trying to send was meant for the owner of the other green glass bottle just as much as it was meant for Elphaba.

Anxious to uncover the story behind the matching bottles, she quickly returned her attention to the Wizard and demanded, "How did you know my mother?"

Still recovering from his own shock, it seemed the Wizard could not muster up the energy to lie. "It was many years ago," he recalled slowly. "I had just arrived in Oz. I was a traveling salesman at the time, making my living selling all sorts of different knickknacks and whatnots to anyone who was interested. One morning I was traveling in Munchkinland – this would have been nearly twenty-five years ago now, I suppose – and as I passed by a particularly enormous house, which I found out later was the Governor's Mansion, I noticed that there was a woman sitting out in the garden. She said hello, and I stopped to chat with her for a few minutes – I was hoping I could talk her into buying some of my merchandise.

"Well, the few minutes turned into much longer, and eventually she ended up inviting me inside. Her husband was away for a few days, she said, and none of the servants would care that she was having a strange man in for lunch. After we'd eaten, I remembered that I had a couple of bottles of this elixir in my pocket, a special liquor that I'd been experimenting with before I came to Oz. I thought I'd gotten the formula just about perfect, but I wanted someone else to try it so I could be sure. I told her about it, and she offered to taste it and tell me what she thought. So I poured us each a drink, and she couldn't get enough of it, and then one thing led to another, and… well…" He trailed off, clearing his throat awkwardly as his cheeks went scarlet, and he suddenly seemed quite unable to meet her eyes.

Elphaba had been certain of the identity of the woman in his story from the moment he had begun to talk about her. Now her mind easily enough supplied the words he had been too uncomfortable to say. "So you… you and my mother…" And then an instant later, all the further implications of those missing words hit home, and she felt as though someone had suddenly and unexpectedly yanked the floor out from beneath her, sending her into an uncontrolled free-fall that made her stomach lurch dangerously. Dizzy and disoriented, she covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head, unable to finish the thought. "This can_not_ be happening. Oh, please tell me you're not serious…"

"I'm afraid I am, my dear," he confirmed, sounding almost apologetic. "I'm very serious, indeed."

She remained with her hand over her eyes for a moment or two, trying to regain some sense of equilibrium in a world that looked and felt nothing like it had only moments ago. "So… you really _are_ behind it all," she realized, remembering the reproachful words she had hurled at him when she had learned that he was the one responsible for all the horrible things happening to the Animals. "In more ways than one. You're the reason my skin is green, because of that elixir you gave my mother. You're the reason why my fath-" She paused for a second and then corrected herself, " – why _Frex_ always hated me – he must have known all along that I wasn't really his daughter. And you're the reason why I have these magical powers."

"What do you mean?" frowned the Wizard, genuinely puzzled by her last accusation. "I've never done any real magic in my life! How could I be responsible for your powers?"

"It's just how the magic works," she elaborated, opening her eyes once more and ignoring the urge to agree with his comment about his lack of magical ability. "There's something about people whose parents come from two different worlds that makes the power much stronger in them than in ordinary people. The fusing of the two worlds creates a lot of power, and it has to go _somewhere_. Or at least that's how Morrible explained it in sorcery class."

"I see," he said gravely. Then he shook his head, looking utterly confounded. "Well, this is really something, isn't it?"

"I hardly know what to think about it," she admitted. "Although it does explain a lot of things. Like why I've never looked like anyone else in my family. Frex and Nessa were always similar, but I never looked or acted like either of them. I've always wondered why."

"You look like your mother," the Wizard told her. "Very much like her, actually. I can't believe I never saw it before. You have her dark eyes, her high cheekbones, her firm chin. And your smile – that's hers, too." Then he tilted his head to one side, studying her critically, before finally concluding, "Your nose is mine, though, I think."

She scowled at him, and one hand instinctively moved to shield the offending feature from view for a moment before she realized that she was being childish and allowed it to drop back down to her side. "I told you the last time I was here – I don't want anything from you. Especially now."

"It's not as though you had much of a choice in this case," he pointed out reasonably. "And anyway, it looks better on you than it ever did on me."

"I know what you're doing," she warned him, "and you might as well stop right now."

The Wizard raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that I was doing anything offensive."

"Oh, don't give me that," snapped Elphaba. "You're trying to charm your way back into my good graces. Don't even try to deny it, you've done it before. But this time it's not going to work."

"Is it really so hard to believe that I'd be curious about a daughter who I didn't even know existed for more than twenty years?"

"Considering everything you've done to me over the last several of those more than twenty years, I think the answer to that should be fairly obvious."

To give him credit, he at least had the grace to look embarrassed at the reminder of all the trouble he had caused for her. "Elphaba, you have to believe me. If I'd had any idea, I never would have… If I'd only known…"

"Would things have been any different?" she interrupted, not interested in hearing his excuses. "Somehow, I'm inclined to think not. You would still have been persecuting the Animals. And I still would have fought you every step of the way. Surely you realize that. What you were doing was wrong, and you had to be stopped. Knowing that you're my father wouldn't have changed that. And it certainly doesn't change it now."

"So that's how things are going to be, is it?" The Wizard's face fell, and he looked so genuinely disappointed that Elphaba had to remind herself fiercely that nothing he said or did could possibly be trusted. "Elphaba, I know what I've done to you is inexcusable, and I know I ruined my chances of starting over with you a long time ago. But… I was rather hoping that maybe, after finding out about this… you might be just the tiniest bit curious, too."

"Curious? About _you?_" she scoffed. "Hardly! When it comes to you, I already know everything I need to know. And what's more, I don't care for any of it."

Suddenly she felt a hand on her arm, and turned to see Glinda standing there, an anxious expression on her face. "I can't believe I'm saying this, Elphie," the shorter girl began, sounding reluctant to voice her thoughts, "but… maybe you should give him a chance. I mean, he's your _father!_"

"Biologically speaking, perhaps," Elphaba conceded disdainfully, "but not in any of the ways that really matter. He didn't raise me. And he's certainly never treated me like his daughter. Fathers don't trick their daughters into doing awful things. Fathers don't plan to exploit their daughter's talents for their own personal gain. And fathers don't try multiple times to have their daughters killed."

Glinda frowned. Obviously she had not considered the matter from this angle – the thought of the Wizard as Elphaba's father seemed to have pushed from her memory that he had, in fact, done all of the things the green girl had just mentioned. "Oh. Good point. Well, go ahead, then; don't mind me."

Satisfied that her friend would not interfere any farther, Elphaba turned back to the Wizard. "You know, I still remember what you said when I first met you, about how you like to think of each citizen of Oz as your own son or daughter. Well, now that I've seen what you do to people who you claim to consider your honorary children – the Animals, for example, or _me_ – I know you're the last person in Oz who I'd ever want to be my actual father. After seeing how cruel you can be, I wouldn't trust any kindness you offered."

"Elphaba, I know you don't trust me, and I don't blame you," he tried again, more desperately this time. "But I promise you, I only want a chance for us to get to know each other like a father and daughter should. We're a lot alike, really, if you think about it –"

"Let's get one thing straight here," she interrupted coldly, tired of his pleas and highly offended at being told she was like him. "You might be my father, but you and I have nothing in common. I am _nothing_ like you, and I don't want to have anything more to do with you. Not now, and not ever again."

She had intended to have Glinda call the guards once more and send the Wizard down to join Morrible in the palace dungeon. But the words died on her tongue. Regardless of everything she had suffered at his hands, the man was still her father. And if she had him thrown into prison now, wouldn't that make her a hypocrite? She was quite justifiably outraged over the things he had done, but how could she protest about his mistreatment of people and Animals and then turn around and do the same thing to him that she was angry at him for doing?

She stood indecisively for a moment or two, her thoughts flying back and forth, and then finally looked back up at the Wizard. "I want you to leave Oz," she stated flatly.

"What?" he asked, blinking in surprise.

"You heard me," snapped Elphaba. "I'm not going to throw you in prison like we did to Morrible. Instead, I'm going to let you leave, on the condition that you're never to show your face in Oz again. And you can consider yourself very mercifully dealt with."

"I'll make the pronouncement myself," Glinda added, lending her support to her friend's decision. "That the strains of wizardship have been too much for you, and you are taking an indefinite leave of absence."

The Wizard looked beseechingly back and forth between the two witches, but when neither showed any sign of relenting, his willpower seemed to collapse. His expression turned hopeless as he realized that he had finally gone too far, and that there was nothing he could possibly do now to make amends for it.

When he did not give any verbal response to the judgment they had passed, Glinda took a step closer to him. "Did you hear what we said?"

The Wizard glanced up at her, barely able to meet her eyes. "Yes, Your Goodness," he muttered faintly.

"You'd better go get your balloon ready," Elphaba advised, her voice dripping with disdainful sarcasm.

And without another word, the Wizard turned and slunk away, a stooped and broken old man whose numerous mistakes had finally caught up with him. The green girl watched him go, and felt no remorse whatsoever. She had finally rid herself of the people who had been holding her down all these years. No, she had not lost her father today. She had gained her freedom. And it was well worth the cost.

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**.: sings :. He had it comin'! He had it comin'! He only had himself to blame! If you'd have been there, if you'd have seen it, I betcha you would have done the same!**

**Oh, I adore the Cell Block Tango. And do you know what else I adore? REVIEWS! Hint, hint...**


	24. There's No Place Like Home

**A/N: Not even a whole week between updates this time! Sweet Oz, I must really love you people or something.**

**Announcement time! Remember back when I said there were four chapters left? Well, I lied. I decided to split what was once intended to be one chapter up into two. So, rather than being the second-to-last chapter, this will now be the third-to-last. Please feel free to celebrate or groan as you see fit.**

**This one's a bit shorter than my norm, but combined with what is now going to be the next chapter, it was getting much too long. Plus I decided that the event in this chapter and the one in the next chapter each deserved their own installment of the story. Hence, two slightly-short-to-normal-length chapters, rather than one gigantically long one.**

**I realize that some parts of this chapter sound similar to chapter 29 of the story "Making Good" by HaChosenOne. However, having become aware of this while still in the process of writing, I had her read my chapter before posting to make sure that she did not feel I was plagiarizing anything from hers, and she gave me (in her own words) her spell of approval. So I thank you for your concern, but yes, I am already aware that they are similar, and so is she, and the chapter has been directly approved by her.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not that girl.**

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The next few days were a blur of chaos and confusion as Glinda announced the departure of the Wizard and the imprisonment of his press secretary and assumed the mantle of temporary ruler. The people of Oz were crushed to learn of their wonderful leader's sudden and unannounced exodus, but they had no reservations about transferring the trust they had placed in him onto the blonde. Glinda the Good had been a beloved public figure for some time now, and, just as Elphaba had predicted back at Kiamo Ko, the Ozians welcomed her as their new ruler with great enthusiasm.

After deposing the Wizard and Morrible, Glinda had managed to sneak Elphaba into a forgotten guest room tucked away in a nondescript corridor near the blonde's own suite, with a trustworthy servant assigned to see to her needs. This servant, a teenaged girl named Rhia, had been one of Glinda's favorite maids ever since she had first moved into the palace, and had known the truth about Elphaba for quite some time, having heard it directly from the good witch herself after promising never to reveal it to anyone. Now that she had officially returned from the dead, Glinda couldn't spend every minute with her emerald-skinned friend as she had become accustomed to doing over the past weeks, and she often found herself getting very lonely. But she knew that Rhia would take good care of Elphaba when she couldn't be there, and she had to content herself with small visits snatched during moments when she knew she wouldn't be missed.

For her part, Elphaba found that being confined to a single room was unbelievably vexing. She understood, of course, that it was for her own safety, and that there was no alternative. But it didn't take long before the four walls of the richly-appointed guest room began to seem more like prison bars. The others were all extremely sympathetic, and they came to keep her company as often as possible, but they could only sneak off so often without someone getting suspicious, and they were never able to stay for long.

It wasn't as though she wasn't used to being alone. She had survived for years on her own out in the Vinkus, hundreds of miles away from everyone she cared about. But being alone when they were so close by was, somehow, infinitely worse. It was as though she was constantly being taunted, the comforting presences and companionship she longed for always just out of reach. _You can look, but don't touch. So close, and yet so far. You will always be on the outside looking in…_

She shook her head frantically, forcing herself to ignore the mocking words. The things her mind was telling her weren't true, not anymore, and she knew it. Glinda and Fiyero had proven to her just how mistaken such thoughts were, however stubbornly she had resisted believing both of them at first. She knew her friends were chafing at this forced separation every bit as much as she was; they told her so every time they came. But the isolation was getting to her, drawing her against her will back into the way she had used to think. Thus far she had managed to fight it off, but she hoped that her involuntary seclusion would end before the struggle became more than she could handle.

It was a testament to how truly deprived of human contact she was that when Dorothy knocked on her door, she was actually almost glad to see her.

Emphasis on _almost_.

"Come in," she invited the girl, stepping aside to let her into the room. Then she noticed the slightly nervous expression the child wore, and realized that this was not an ordinary visit. Dorothy had clearly come today with something that she wanted to discuss. "What is it?"

Dorothy looked slightly surprised at being caught out so quickly. But then, since Elphaba had already guessed (correctly, it seemed) that there was an underlying reason for her visit, she abandoned whatever attempts she had thought to make at easing into the subject, and began. "Well… I've been thinking…"

"Have you, now? Well, that's encouraging," quipped Elphaba. "There may be hope for you yet."

The child laughed a little at the sarcastic response, but quickly grew serious again as she focused once more on the reason she had come. "I certainly don't have anything against Oz. Everyone's been perfectly lovely to me, and it's been such fun to see someplace new and have a few adventures. But I want to go home now, to Kansas. To my Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. I've been gone for such a long time – they must be worried sick about me by now!"

"Ah, yes. The Wizard promised to send you back if you did what he asked, didn't he?" the green girl recalled.

"Yes, he did," confirmed Dorothy. "But he didn't keep his promise. And now he's gone, and I'm stuck here in Oz, and I'll never get home…"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Elphaba frowned dismissively, alarmed by the threat of impending tears in the child's voice. Dealing with a hysterical little girl was most decidedly not among the activities in which she wished to engage, especially when her own nerves were frayed from being stuck by herself in a single room for an extended period of time. "Don't you remember what I told you? He wouldn't have been any help getting you home anyway."

"That just means I'm trapped here even _more!_" the girl lamented, her voice rising pitifully.

"Oh, hush, will you?" Elphaba closed her eyes for a moment to rein in her temper before continuing, "I said _the Wizard_ wouldn't have been any use in sending you back to Kansas. I never said that there's _no one_ who can help."

Dorothy furrowed her brow in puzzlement for a moment. But then her confused expression cleared, and a hopeful smile replaced the tears that had been about to flow only seconds before. "You really think you can find a way to get me home?"

"I'll do my best, anyway," pledged the green girl. "Now you'd better hurry up and get back before someone realizes you're gone."

Dorothy nodded, and with a quick wave and a 'thank you' over her shoulder, she slipped out, closing the door behind her.

It was a great relief to Elphaba to have something to occupy her time and energy after sitting idle for what seemed like forever. She threw herself into the task with vigor, racking her brain to come up with a way that Dorothy could possibly be sent back to Kansas.

The first idea that occurred to her was a transportation spell, much like the one she had used to escape from the gallows back on the day she had run into Fiyero down in the dungeon. Such spells were relatively simple – all the person casting it had to do was recite the incantation and picture in their mind the place where they wanted to be taken. But after some more thought on the matter, she rejected this plan. Transportation spells were much more effective when the person who wished to be transported cast the spell on herself. And as far as the likelihood went of Dorothy developing the necessary magical skills to do so any time soon… well, she wasn't holding her breath.

Then there was the option of _Elphaba_ casting a transportation spell on Dorothy. But she didn't care much for that idea, either. If something went wrong – if she ended up in the wrong place, for instance – there wouldn't be any way for the child to try the spell again or to alert Elphaba, and no way that the green girl could find her to rectify the mistake. And besides, casting a spell on another person was dangerous, as clearly evidenced by what had happened to Fiyero and to Boq, and much more difficult than casting one on oneself, or on an inanimate object.

_An inanimate object…_ That was it! She could cast a transportation spell on some_thing_, bypassing the risk and effort of casting one on Dorothy herself. Then the girl would be able to simply take hold of the object, picture her home, and the spell would do the rest.

Thus far had she gotten in concocting a plan of sorts when Glinda and Dorothy managed to sneak in for a visit at the same time. Elphaba quickly explained her idea to them, and they both agreed that it was sound in principle.

"So what will you use to cast the spell on?" wondered Dorothy.

"I'm not sure yet," the green girl admitted. "It will have to be something that's easy for you to keep hold of, because if you accidentally lose your grip before you get to where you want to go, you could end up somewhere else, with no way out."

Dorothy shivered at the thought, and Glinda laid a comforting hand on her shoulder before offering, "How about something small that she could keep in her pocket? Like a pebble, or a coin, or something? That way, even if she does accidentally let go, she'll still have the thing with her, and she can just try again."

"There might be something to that idea," Elphaba mused, considering what her friend had proposed. "But even with something she could keep in her pocket, there'd still be some risk. If it's that small, it would be easily lost. Or what if her pocket got a hole in it? A coin or a pebble would fall out, and then she'd be out of luck."

"What would you suggest, then, Elphie?" the blonde asked.

"My first choice would be something that could be attached to her somehow, so she wouldn't lose it. Something she could wear, maybe…" The taller girl trailed off, mulling over possible options.

"Like a hat?" suggested Dorothy. "Or a coat?"

"Yes, something like that," Elphaba nodded. "Or…" Then her eyes were drawn to the child's feet, where the enchanted ruby slippers still glittered. "Or a pair of shoes. Yes, shoes would be the perfect thing to cast the spell on!"

Glinda and Dorothy both followed her gaze, and gasped when they realized what she meant.

"Oh, no, I _couldn't_!" the girl protested. "These belong to you! I can't take them away from you like that! How will I ever give them back to you then?"

"Dorothy," Elphaba pointed out logically, "everyone is used to seeing you in those shoes. If you ask for another pair, people are going to wonder why. And I can't afford for people to start wondering, because wondering turns into asking, and asking turns into looking, and looking could turn into finding, which would result in some highly unpleasant circumstances that I really don't want to have to worry about. It's _those_ shoes, or nothing."

"But Elphie… those are _Nessa's_ shoes!" Glinda reminded her, aghast. "That was why you sent the Monkeys after Dorothy in the first place – you wanted the shoes back!"

"I know," the green girl acknowledged with a heavy sigh. "But what use do I have for them? I'm certainly not going to _wear_ them, you know that. All they could possibly be to me now is a testament to how I failed my sister. And I'm perfectly capable of remembering that without having those shoes to remind me."

"Well, all right, if you say so," acquiesced the blonde reluctantly. "But are you _sure?_"

"Yes, I'm sure." Elphaba smiled slightly. "After all, as _someone_ has reminded me on more than one occasion, they're just shoes. And it's high time I let them go."

So it was decided. Elphaba would magick Nessa's shoes with a transportation spell so that they would take Dorothy home to Kansas. Glinda announced to the people of Oz that their heroine wished to return to her own land, and that in light of all that Dorothy had done for Oz, she, Glinda, had seen fit to grant the request. The Ozians were desolate at the news of the child's imminent departure, but they could not justify asking her to stay if she really missed her home that badly. So they consoled themselves by throwing her a party of epic proportions to bid her goodbye and wish her well.

When the festivities were over, the blonde announced that she was now going to send Dorothy home. After allowing the girl to spend a few last minutes with the three who had been her companions during her long journey, Glinda took her by the hand and began to lead her out of the room, away from the guests. The magic was very unstable, she explained to the dissatisfied onlookers who had been hoping to watch the procedure, and the slightest disturbance might ruin the spell, so it had to be performed in total seclusion to have any hope of working. The assembled crowd sighed in disappointment, but they could hardly argue with the wisdom of their ruler. Glinda and Dorothy were allowed to leave the gathering without any farther hindrance.

Elphaba was ready and waiting when Dorothy arrived at her door, clutching the small basket she had brought with her, her little terrier in tow. The child's face bore clear signs that she had been shedding copious tears, but her eyes were dry now, and she stepped resolutely into the room.

"You've said your goodbyes?" the green girl asked her, making the question as gentle as possible so as to soften the recollection of what had surely been a difficult task. As irritating as the child could sometimes be, Elphaba could sympathize with the pain of having to bid farewell to people that she had come to care about.

Though her chin trembled with the effort of maintaining her composure, Dorothy nodded her confirmation. "Yes. Yes, I'm ready to go now."

"Good girl." Elphaba gave a slight smile of approval at her effort to present a brave face. "All right then, take off the shoes, and I'll cast the spell on them."

Dorothy obediently stepped out of the sparkling slippers and moved away from them, watching with wide, curious eyes as Elphaba knelt next to them with the Grimmerie. The green girl quickly found the spell she was looking for and began to chant. A strong sense of déjà vu assailed her, but she pushed it aside and finished casting the spell, then stood and turned back to Dorothy.

"So… how does it work?" the girl asked.

Elphaba gave her a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how does the spell know when it's supposed to transport me?"

"You just get a good, clear picture in your mind of where you want to go. As soon as the spell senses it, it'll take you to the place you're thinking of. That's all there is to it."

"But what if I'm not ready? What if the picture in my head isn't clear? What if I accidentally happen to think of somewhere else as I'm picturing, and the spell thinks that's where I want to go and takes me there instead?"

"Just make sure you've got the picture clear before you put the shoes on, and don't think about anything else," was Elphaba's solution to the child's worries, delivered in a tone that said it should have been obvious.

But Dorothy was still unconvinced. "I'd feel better if I could control when the spell activates," she persisted. "Isn't there something you can do to make it so it won't work until I tell it to? Some sort of… trigger or something you can add, something I have to do to let the magic know I'm ready?"

"My, we're demanding today." Elphaba cast her eyes briefly towards the ceiling, but in the end, she had to concede that what the girl had requested could be done. "Fine. Did you have something in particular in mind?"

"I don't think so," said Dorothy, shaking her head. "Could I snap my fingers, or clap my hands, or something like that?"

"I guess that would work," the green girl allowed dubiously. "But it would be better if the action somehow involved the magicked objects themselves."

"So something with the shoes, then?"

"It would probably be a good idea. That way there won't be any confusion about whether you've actually given the signal. Maybe tapping your heels together three times, or something along those lines."

Dorothy shrugged. "Tapping my heels together three times works for me."

With the action that would trigger the transportation spell decided upon, Elphaba quickly enhanced the magic already attached to the shoes with an extra charm that would prevent it from taking effect until the action was performed. Then Dorothy fixed the ruby slippers on her feet once more and turned to Elphaba.

"Thank you," she said solemnly. "For everything. And I'm sorry that I was going to kill you."

Elphaba acknowledged the apology with a careless shrug. "No harm done. It's not as though you could actually have done anything to me anyway, even if you'd tried."

"I doubt it," agreed Dorothy. Then, after a pause, she added a bit wistfully, "Well, I guess this is it, then."

"It would seem so." Elphaba picked up the terrier, which was nosing around at her feet, and handed him to his mistress. "Be careful out there. And don't go dropping any more houses on people's sisters. Not everyone is as nice as I am, you know; you could get into real trouble next time. And if you think I'm going to come and get you out of it, you're very much mistaken."

"I'll remember that," Dorothy assured her with a faint smile. "Goodbye, Elphaba."

"Goodbye, Dorothy. Safe journey."

The child nodded. Then she closed her eyes for several moments, obviously conjuring up the image of her home in her mind. Finally she took a deep breath and brought the heels of the ruby slippers together once, twice, three times. There was a blinding flash of light, and Dorothy was gone.

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**The little "GO" button down there on the left next to where it says "Submit Review" wants to be clicked. Very much. Yes it does. I promise.**


	25. Under Your Spell

**A/N: So this chapter is a full four weeks later than I told some of you that it would be. My muse and I are currently experiencing… well, let's call it creative differences. Yeah. Suffice to say that it has resulted in a four-week-long lack of inspiration. Very frustrating, but thankfully over now. (The lack of inspiration is over, I mean, not the creative differences – my muse is one stubborn witch!)**

**Anyway, here is the second-to-last chapter. I know many of you have been waiting for this one for a long time, so I hope it's everything you were expecting. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Only in my wildest dreamings.**

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With the Wizard gone, Morrible safely behind bars and deprived of her magical powers, and Dorothy sent home to Kansas, Elphaba was finally left free to focus on getting Fiyero and Boq back to normal. That night, after the rest of the palace was sleeping soundly, she and Glinda crept through the silent halls to Madam Morrible's old office. Once there, the blonde produced a key and quietly unlocked the door, allowing them to slip inside. She had exercised her authority as the ruler of Oz and ordered the room to be sealed off and everyone kept out. It was in everyone's best interests that she do so, she had explained to the questioning residents of the palace, as it was impossible to know what sort of unpleasant spells the former press secretary might have employed for protection.

Her real reason for taking such action, of course, had been to allow herself and her emerald-skinned friend to access the books and papers inside without it being discovered that they were doing so. As evil as Morrible was, she knew more about sorcery than even the green girl herself did, and Elphaba was certain that somewhere within her vast collection of materials she would find something that could be of use in restoring the Tin Man and the Scarecrow to their human forms. And thanks to the good witch's decree, she could take whatever she needed, because there was no danger of anyone noticing that the room had been disturbed.

In the office, Elphaba collected every book on sorcery and spells that she could lay her hands on, along with any others that she thought might be helpful. She ended up with a stack so high that she couldn't see over the top of it, and had to have Glinda take a few off her hands so she could find her way back out into the corridor. The shorter girl followed her out and then relocked the door behind them, and the two of them retraced their route back to their quarters, somehow managing between the two of them to carry all the volumes the green girl had selected in one trip.

Having rid herself of her pile of books and reclaimed those that the blonde held, Elphaba then prepared to undertake the most important study session of her life. She paused only long enough to request that she not be disturbed under any circumstances. If she needed something, she told Glinda, she would ask for it. The shorter girl did not appear to care much for this arrangement, but reluctantly promised that she would make certain her friend's demand for total solitude was obeyed. With this assurance, Elphaba shut her door and closed herself off from everyone and everything, vowing not to emerge until she had accomplished her goal.

This method of holing up alone in some quiet corner or other was how she had always written papers and prepared for exams at Shiz. She wouldn't sleep. She would eat only the barest amount needed to keep herself from collapsing. All her energy and focus would be poured into the pages of the books in front of her. And the technique had never failed her. Granted, once the paper was handed in or the exam was finished, she had usually returned to her room and collapsed into bed for the rest of the day, too exhausted to move, but the high marks she had consistently achieved had made the inevitable post-studying crash worthwhile. If there was ever an occasion that called for her old tried-and-true approach, this was it. She just hoped that her efforts would prove as fruitful this time as they had in the past.

Afraid that she would get too comfortable and fall asleep if she tried to lay on her bed and read, she decided to establish herself in an armchair that sat within easy reach of a large table where she could pile all the books. She then proceeded to do just that, arranging the volumes in the order of what she guessed their usefulness would be. After bringing over the lamp from her bedside table, she settled herself comfortably in the chair, picked up the topmost book from the first stack, and began to read.

In a strange way, she felt almost as though she was reliving her days as a student at university. Her world narrowed until it included only the words on the pages in front of her. She lost all sense of time; it was impossible to tell whether she had been there for several days or for only a few hours. Pushing everything else from her mind, she focused all her being on the task at hand. It vaguely registered in her mind at some point that she was hungry, and beginning to grow tired. But other than to summon Rhia and request a light meal, she ignored the feelings. Fiyero and Boq didn't have the capability to be hungry or tired in their altered states, so it seemed fitting that she experience both sensations in their stead until they were once again able to do so themselves.

Reading constantly, she soon made it through all the volumes she had pilfered from the press secretary's office. But to her frustration and dismay, she found nothing that seemed as though it would offer the help she sought. She discovered more than one reversal spell (it did not surprise her in the least to learn that Morrible had been lying about spells being irreversible), but quickly dismissed them all. If all she did was reverse the last spell that had been cast on him, Boq would become human again, but without a heart, leaving him in the same dire predicament that had first necessitated his being turned into tin. And Fiyero would also be restored to his normal state, but with whatever injuries he had sustained at the hands of the Wizard's guards, injuries whose extent she didn't know and about which she didn't care to learn firsthand. No, she needed something stronger than a reversal spell… a spell that would not only change them back, but that would also remedy the problems that had caused her to have to intervene in the first place. But though she read and reread, no such spell came to light. Finally, at her wit's end, she slammed the book in her hands closed, tossed it down onto the table, and slumped back in her armchair, brooding.

Then the answer came to her, and she jerked upright in the chair in surprise. It was so simple and so clear that she was amazed it hadn't occurred to her at once. She must be more tired than she thought, to have overlooked this obvious solution!

_So the spell you need doesn't exist in any of these books?_ asked the voice in her head reasonably. _That's fine. Forget the books and create it yourself._

Creating her own spell to turn Boq and Fiyero back to normal was really a much better idea than trusting a spell that she found already made in a book, she realized as soon as the thought entered her head. She had never done something like this herself, but theoretically it _could_ be done. After all, every existing spell had to have been invented at some point. Doing things this way meant that she would be able to tailor the incantation to suit the needs of both individuals on whom it was to be cast, making it much more likely to be effective. And the vocabulary for the spell would be easy to come by. The books piled on the table were full of thousands of words in the language of sorcery; all she needed to do was find the bits and pieces she wanted and weave them together properly.

It was that last part that made her uneasy. She didn't know the first thing about creating a spell; how could she know that she was, in fact, fitting the various words and phrases together the right way? She couldn't be sure that her spell would work without testing it on something. And she didn't have anything on which to test it, other than the two upon whom the hypothetical spell would be cast. She would simply have to do her best and hope like hell that her best was good enough. As much as she hated leaving things to chance, especially something as critical as this, there was really no other option. So she went to fetch paper, pen, and ink from the desk across the room, and then set to work.

Now that she actually had something definite to do in pursuit of her goal, the time seemed to pass much more quickly. Elphaba grew so absorbed in her work that the haze of exhaustion hovering at the edges of her mind was forgotten. Flipping through book after book, she made careful notes of all the words she would need, turning them over and over in her mind and on her tongue until she was sure she knew how to pronounce them properly. Before long, she had completed the list of the necessary vocabulary. Now all that remained was to arrange the words into an actual spell.

She kept the general framework of the incantation the same for both Fiyero's and Boq's versions of the spell, since her overall intent was the same in both cases. From there, the rest of her task lay on a more individualized level. She included a regeneration charm in Boq's version, carefully inserting the word for 'heart' so that there would be no doubt about what part of him was to be regrown. For Fiyero's, since whatever wounds he had suffered were bound to be of a somewhat more superficial nature, she replaced the regeneration charm with a healing spell that would mend any imaginable injury, from bruises to broken bones and even worse.

To her pleasant surprise, once she got going, creating the two slightly different adaptations of her spell proved to be more straightforward and less taxing than she had anticipated. Almost before she knew it, she was copying the last word from her pages of hastily-scribbled notes onto a fresh sheet of paper. Then she dispatched Rhia with a message to the others that the spells were ready to be put to use.

Of course, as much as Elphaba hated the thought of Fiyero and Boq having to spend even one clock tick longer than absolutely necessary in their spell-induced states, she could hardly try out her spells on the spot as she wanted desperately to do. People would get very suspicious if two of Oz's greatest heroes just up and disappeared without a trace. So, at her urging, Glinda announced to the Ozians that the Scarecrow and the Tin Man were departing to return to the lives they had led before Dorothy arrived, inviting everyone to turn out to bid them farewell. It was a necessary precaution, the green girl knew, but the proclamation took several days to organize and carry out, and she grew frustrated at the delay.

Being left alone for extended periods of time with nothing but her own mind for company was never a good situation for Elphaba, and now was no exception. In addition to making her annoyed for Fiyero's and Boq's sakes, the extra time also gave her ample opportunity to imagine everything that could possibly go wrong. She had never had any difficulty finding the possible problems in any given scenario, and this particular situation had more potential for disaster than most. The more she thought about it, the more hesitant she became to cast a spell that had never been used or even tested before now. Had the circumstances been anything other than what they were, she would never have dared to take such a risk with even a complete stranger, let alone with people she knew and cared for (well, in one case out of two, anyhow).

How could she possibly expect them to put themselves entirely in her hands, under her power? She couldn't ask them to place that kind of faith in her, not after what she had already done to them. Had she been in their position, she certainly wouldn't have trusted herself. Hell, she barely trusted herself as it was. She had strung the spells together out of a jumble of words and phrases, which she had taken from multiple sources whose credibility was unverifiable. There was no possible way to guarantee that they would work, or even that it wouldn't do Boq or Fiyero any harm if they didn't. For all that she knew – and there was every reason to believe it – trying to magic spell them again would only make matters worse.

Plagued as she was with these worries, Elphaba spent several more sleepless days and nights as she waited for Fiyero and Boq to take their leave of the citizens of Oz and join her in hiding. In fact, she very nearly managed to talk herself out of the whole idea. _I've already caused them enough misery,_ she told herself bitterly. _They're both counting on me. I can't let them down now – they'd be so devastated if my spells didn't work. And the surest way not to let them down is not to try in the first place. At least if I don't try, I can't fail._

_But if you don't try, you can't succeed, either,_ the annoyingly omnipresent voice in her head pointed out. _You'd be letting them down worse by giving up before you even begin than you could ever do by trying the spells you created and having them not work. You know that._

_But what if I made a mistake somewhere in one of the spells? What if something goes wrong and I end up hurting them? I lost Fiyero once, and it very nearly destroyed me. I don't think I could survive losing him again. _

_No one could blame you for feeling that way. But don't you think you're being just a little bit selfish?_

_What do you mean?_

_You're only thinking about yourself here. __You're__ afraid you'll fail. __You're__ afraid you'll lose Fiyero again. And this isn't about you at all. It's about Fiyero and Boq. You haven't bothered to consider what __they__ want._

Elphaba was about to retort, but then realized that the mysterious voice had a point. She had been so focused on her own fears and insecurities that it hadn't occurred to her to wonder what Fiyero's and Boq's opinions might be. But their feelings on the matter deserved to be taken into account above anyone else's, including hers. After all, they would be the ones upon whom the spells would be cast.

She knew with utter certainty that they both longed to be their old selves again. They had never come right out and said so to her face, of course, but she was sure of it all the same. And if there was even the slightest possibility that her spells might be able to give them that, how could she possibly deny them the chance just because she was having doubts? The voice in her head had been correct yet again – her personal misgivings could not be allowed to stand in the way of something that might be able turn Boq and Fiyero back to normal, however unlikely she believed the attempt's chances of success to be.

When the Scarecrow and the Tin Man finally arrived, Elphaba was still more than a little unsure of herself, but she was also determined now to at least see her idea through to the end. However, she felt obliged to make sure that they both knew what they were getting themselves into, and to give them every possible chance to back out if they had doubts. She had no desire to be turned upon yet again for casting a spell on someone without his full understanding and consent.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?" she asked, looking them both directly in the eye. "I'm not going to lie to you – it could be very dangerous. These spells have never been done before; they haven't even been tested to make sure they work. There's no telling what might happen."

"I'm sure," asserted Boq immediately. It seemed that, for the moment, anyhow, his desire to be human again had overridden his distrust of the green girl.

Fiyero nodded his agreement. He said nothing, but the expression that she found when she met his eyes spoke more eloquently than any words could have done. He trusted her implicitly, and that fact would not change, no matter what the outcome of the spells. Elphaba appreciated his confidence more than she could possibly put into words. She just hoped that his faith in her would not prove to be unwarranted.

Encouraged by their complete lack of hesitancy, she drew a deep breath and acknowledged their affirmative answers with a nod of her own, indicating that she would comply with their wishes. She then proceeded to explain how she intended to go about putting the spells she had created to use. The transformations would probably be quite painful, she warned apologetically. In fact, the metamorphoses from human beings into Scarecrow and Tin Man had likely been excruciating as well, but by the time the original spells had taken effect, Boq and Fiyero had both already been unconscious, and so had remained oblivious to the pain.

Taking their previous experiences into consideration, Elphaba had come up with a way to avoid any discomfort that her spells might cause as they worked. Before she cast the spells to change them back, she would simply render them both unconscious once again, this time with a sleeping charm she had found that was intended to aid people with insomnia. She would have preferred a simple sleeping draught over having to use magic, as its potency and the amount used would have been much easier to control. However, a potion would not have had any effect on the Scarecrow or the Tin Man, since they were not made of flesh and blood, so it was the sleeping charm or nothing. And Fiyero and Boq both assured her in no uncertain terms that, as far as they were concerned, the first of those two options was highly preferable to the second.

With their consent obtained, she had no more excuses behind which to hide. She was going to have to cast her spells and deal with the results, whatever they turned out to be. Knowing that her last chance to change her mind had now passed her by, if indeed such an opportunity had ever truly existed, Elphaba forced herself not to dwell on anything beyond the actual casting of the spells. As Braeyn had once told her, not even the most powerful sorceress in the world could cross a bridge before she came to it, so what was the use in trying? The present had more than enough worries of its own without her piling the concerns of the future on top of them. There would be plenty of time once the spells were cast to agonize over everything that could go wrong. And it wouldn't do anyone any good at this point for Elphaba to give in to her fears.

So, although she felt far more nervous than either Fiyero or Boq seemed to be, she managed to present a calm, confident front. It was best for everyone that she do so, she told herself. They certainly didn't need her adding her own anxiety to what they already had to be feeling. If she wanted them to believe in her, she had to at least give the impression that she believed in herself.

And the mask of self-assurance that she donned seemed to serve its purpose, or at least it convinced Glinda and Boq. However, knowing her as well as he did, Fiyero was not so easily fooled. Sensing the uneasiness that was running rampant beneath her thin façade of serenity, he slipped a reassuring arm around her shoulders. Elphaba leaned into him slightly, giving him a grateful look. It was a welcome change to have someone from whom she could draw strength, rather than being the one who was expected to lend it to others.

As complex as the spells were, Elphaba knew that a considerable amount of time would be required for them to take effect, so she suggested that they wait until late in the evening to begin. This would allow the magic to work overnight, and then Boq and Fiyero would, barring any unforeseen circumstances, awaken in the morning as they would normally do to find themselves restored to their proper human states. The others accepted this proposition easily enough, and the group settled in to pass the time as best they could until night arrived.

The minutes and hours seemed to tick by with unbearable slowness. But finally the sky outside the window grew dark, and Elphaba decided that now was as good a time as any to get to work. After having Glinda make sure that the hallway was clear, the green girl gestured to Boq to follow her into another guest room next to the one she had been occupying. She had him lie down on the bed, and then cast the sleeping charm. It worked perfectly, and within moments the Tin Man was deep in slumber, oblivious to everything around him.

Satisfied that he was now safe from any pain involved with the transformation, Elphaba pulled out the sheet of paper where she had copied her spells. She had spent so much time poring over the incantations that she was sure she knew them both by heart, but this was no time to be overconfident. Extending her free hand towards the prone figure on the bed, she read Boq's version of the spell aloud, pronouncing each word slowly and clearly. She felt the energy of her powers gather and then dissipate, and she knew that, for better or for worse, this portion of her task was complete.

Leaving Boq alone to let the spell do its work, the green girl returned to the room that had become hers, where Fiyero was awaiting his turn to become human again. Casting this spell, she knew, would take far more courage than the last. But despite all her misgivings, she refused to acknowledge this moment as any sort of farewell. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder for a moment, but that was the full extent to which she allowed herself to express her fear that something might go wrong. After that, she suppressed her emotions with an effort and refocused her mind on the task at hand.

Elphaba recited the sleeping charm again, with the same result she had obtained the first time. Then it was back to the paper that contained the spells she had created. This time she read the second of the two incantations, every word imbued with her desperate desire for the spell to work. Finally the last syllable escaped her lips, and she let out a long, weary breath. She had done everything within her power. Now the only thing left for her to do was wait. And she knew that the waiting was going to be the most difficult step of the entire process.

Once the spell was cast, she stood over Fiyero's unconscious form, swaying slightly on her feet, one hand to her forehead in a futile attempt to ease the headache that was rapidly forming. She had never been one to let physical weakness get the better of her, but several straight days without sleep, combined with the amount of energy it had taken to cast two complicated and very powerful spells in a row with no rest in between, had left her far beyond exhausted. Her body was screaming at her to just let herself collapse and sleep until she wasn't tired anymore. But her mind refused to allow her to shut her eyes. This wasn't over yet, and she knew she wouldn't be able to relax until it was.

So she began to pace. Back and forth, back and forth she went with slow, measured steps, lost in her thoughts, barely conscious enough of her surroundings to change her path every so often so she didn't wear a trail in the carpet. Several times she nearly gave in to her fatigue, but some last vestige of willpower always gave her the strength to put one foot in front of the other one more time, and then once more, and once more after that…

The night wore on, every hour just like the one that had come before it. There was nothing to mark the minutes or seconds, so time became distorted, vague, irrelevant. It was impossible to tell whether it was passing quickly or slowly, but she never stopped her pacing, letting her footfalls mark the moments as they elapsed.

She wasn't sure whether it felt like an eternity or the blink of an eye later, but eventually the blackness of the night outside the window began to fade to somber gray. The sky began to lighten as dawn approached, and Elphaba finally allowed herself to abandon her ceaseless movement. Every bone in her body aching with exhaustion, she settled down in the window seat to watch the sunrise. The pastel colors cascaded upward from the eastern horizon, staining the sky with their pale hues. There was something oddly soothing about the way they blended into one another, melting together so seamlessly that she couldn't tell where one color ended and the next began…

The next thing she knew, someone was shaking her gently by the shoulder, calling her name. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell them to go the hell away and let her sleep. But then she realized that she recognized that voice, and her heart began to race as all at once the memory of the previous evening's events came flooding back. _Either I'm dreaming,_ she concluded, hardly daring to finish the thought, _or the spell actually worked._ Banishing her exhaustion as much as she could, she forced her eyes to open… and found herself looking up into a pair of very familiar sapphire blue eyes, set in a handsome face that she had never really expected to see again.

"Fiyero…"

She stared at him in disbelief for a clock-tick or two, hardly daring to hope that what she was seeing was real. Then the next moment she was on her feet and they were holding each other as though their very lives depended on it, his arms drawing her tight against him and her face buried in his shoulder, and she was laughing and crying all at once, and for the first time in a long time everything felt right. Fiyero was as human as he'd ever been, all of his handsome features just as she remembered them. She had memorized every detail of that face in moments, and yet she knew she would be more than happy to see it every day for the rest of her life.

She clung to him fiercely, drinking in the sensation of feeling his heart beating against hers. Relaxing her embrace after a moment to run her hands over his shoulders and then rest them with the palms flat against his chest, she marveled at the warmth and pliant firmness of the human flesh beneath the fabric of his shirt. Fiyero reached out and softly traced the path of a tear that was coursing down her face, letting his hand linger, caressing her cheek as though he could not get enough of the feel of her skin beneath his fingers.

"I'm dreaming," she whispered. "This is a dream. It has to be. It's far too good to be real."

"But it _is_ real," he replied. "Or if it isn't, then we're apparently having the same dream."

"But if it's real, then that would mean that one of my spells actually worked like I meant it to."

"And that surprises you?"

"Immensely."

"Elphaba! Of course it worked. I never had any doubt it would."

"Well, that makes one of us, then," she quipped.

Fiyero laughed lightly and shook his head. "It worked," he reiterated firmly, "and this is real. It's not a dream. I promise."

Elphaba fell silent for a moment or two, considering his words with a slight frown. Then, with a thoughtful expression, she pulled him down and kissed him deeply. When they eased apart, she smiled against his mouth. "All right, you win. Maybe it's real after all."

He grinned at her acquiescence. "I knew you'd see it my way," he informed her, sounding proud of himself for convincing her, and proceeded to return her kiss in kind.

She pulled away after a few moments, stifling a yawn behind her hand. "Sorry," she apologized sheepishly.

"There's no need to be sorry," he assured her. "If you're tired, you should sleep."

"But I don't want to sleep. I just want to be with you."

"I'm not going anywhere." He kissed her again, softly this time. "Get some rest, love. You've earned it."

She would have protested farther, but she was simply too tired. So she merely nodded and requested, "Stay with me?"

"Always."

With this assurance, she let him lead her over to the bed and watched as he pulled back the covers and sat down, propping himself against the headboard. Taking a seat next to him, she curled up in his arms and settled herself comfortably against his chest, cuddling as near to him as she could get. He pulled the blankets up over them both, then pulled her close and held her, and she laid her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes to breathe in the familiar scent of him and to bask in his warmth and the feel of his arms around her.

"Promise you'll still be here when I wake up?" she murmured, already nearly asleep.

He pressed his lips briefly to the top of her head. "I promise, Elphaba."

She smiled slightly at his affirmation, and finally permitted herself to drift off into a deep, peaceful, and much-needed sleep.

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**The next chapter is THE END, so don't miss the final installment!**

**Reviewers get the virtual dessert of their choosing. Yum!**


	26. Goodness Knows

**A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaack! Did you all miss me? -complete and utter silence- Heh heh, well, um, okay, then.**

**Well, there's no excuse I can possibly give for taking over two months to update this story, especially when it's getting so close to the end. I can only hope that you, my fabulous readers (that is, if I have any left after such a long period of inactivity!), can find it in your hearts to forgive me, and that you still want to find out how the story ends.**

**Okay, so it seems I lied to you all again when I told you that this would be the final chapter. It was getting far too long, so I finally decided to split the last chapter up into two. I figured you all wouldn't mind if I stretched things out just a little longer. Hopefully I figured right.**

**Anyone who finds the Wizard of Oz quote I snuck into this chapter gets a virtual cupcake.**

**All right, that's enough out of me! Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like Greg, Steve, or Winnie to you? (The correct answer is NO.)**

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Later that afternoon, Boq arrived with Glinda in tow to show Elphaba that the spell she'd cast on him had been a success, and to check on Fiyero. Since the spell she had created to change Fiyero back had worked exactly as she'd hoped it would, Elphaba was not terribly surprised to learn that her other spell had also served its purpose, but she was glad to see that Boq was back to his old self as well. The last thing she needed would have been to have Fiyero's spell work and Boq's fail – Oz only knew what the Munchkin would have thought of her then.

But as it was, Boq seemed happier than she could ever remember seeing him, even back at Shiz. To her pleasant surprise, he even made a point of thanking her quite sincerely for what she had done. When you got right down to it, she had to concede, he wasn't a bad person at heart. They would probably never be the best of friends, but she decided it was at least safe to assume that they wouldn't be enemies any longer.

For several days, any thoughts of the future were pushed aside by the elation they all felt at having Fiyero and Boq returned to their proper states. However, Elphaba's mind soon began to rebel against what it must have determined was too much joy. Try as she might, she could not rid herself of the belief that she simply was not meant to be happy like this for anything but short snatches of time. Something was bound to come along to ruin things sooner or later. And it didn't take her long to figure out what was going to spoil her happiness this time.

It occurred to her that the four of them had never discussed what they were all going to do once things reached this point. Their grand plot to remove Morrible and the Wizard from office had not gone any farther than undoing the spells she had cast on Boq and Fiyero. Glinda was now the ruler of Oz, of course. And now that Boq was human again, he could resume his life as an ordinary person. But only now did Elphaba realize that she had forgotten to consider what was to become of herself and Fiyero.

As the ruler of Oz, Glinda could see to it that the guards' instructions to kill Fiyero were rescinded, so he would be in no danger if he were to reappear in Oz. But the same could not be said for Elphaba. Not even Glinda the Good would be able to protect the Wicked Witch of the West from the citizens of Oz if it were discovered that she was still alive. No, Elphaba did not expect to be able to safely show her face in Oz ever again.

She had no desire to force any of the others to join her in such a life, and no expectations that any of them would choose to do so. However, when she ventured to suggest to Fiyero that he might be better off returning to his old life and forgetting about her, he gave her such a wounded and reproachful look that she knew better than to bring up the topic again. It seemed he was bound and determined to stay by her side come what may. And although she couldn't even begin to comprehend the rationale behind his decision, neither could she even begin to describe the relief it gave her. If there had ever been a piece of her heart that hadn't belonged to him, he won it forever with his refusal to leave her.

The two of them tossed around several ideas for ways in which they could somehow stay hidden and yet remain nearby, but ended up discarding all of them. When it came right down to it, it was simply too dangerous for them to stay. As things stood at the moment, the only way they could be sure of their own safety would be to leave Oz altogether. This was a possibility that neither of them wanted to consider, but they both knew they had no other choice.

Glinda, however, did not agree. When Elphaba told her friend what she and Fiyero intended to do, the blonde expressed her opinion of their plan in a single simple word.

"No."

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I said no," Glinda repeated calmly. "Absolutely not. You're not leaving."

"Come on, Glin, be reasonable," requested Elphaba. "You're only making this harder for both of us. I don't want to leave any more than you want me to. But I can't stay. Surely you understand that. You know what would happen if anyone found out I'm still alive."

The blonde shook her head. "I don't see why you can't stay here with me. It's worked so far. You're perfectly safe. No one except Rhia knows you're here, and she'll never tell anyone. And I'm right here, and Fiyero's here with you, too. You've got everything you need."

"Except freedom." When Glinda gave her a questioning look, Elphaba elaborated, "I can't spend the rest of my life in just a handful of rooms, no matter how comfortable they are. I might as well be locked up in the dungeon. I need to be free to go where I please and do what I please. I need to be able to _live_, Glinda. And I can't do that here."

At first, Glinda had believed, or at least hoped, that her emerald-skinned friend's notion of going away was merely a passing whim that she could be talked out of. Now, however, she saw that the green girl was in complete earnest about her plan. Her calm disappeared in an instant, and she began to panic. "But… but… you can't leave, Elphie! You _can't!_"

"Why not?"

"Because I need you here! I don't know what I was thinking, letting you talk me into becoming the ruler of Oz without you here to help me – I can't run a country by myself!"

Elphaba let a long sigh escape. "Glinda, we talked about this back at Kiamo Ko, remember? You knew I wasn't going to be able to stay with you forever. And you don't need me to. There are plenty of people out there who'll be able to give you advice in whatever areas you need. And the people of Oz have already accepted you as their leader, just like I told you they would."

"I remember," the blonde allowed. "And do _you_ remember telling me that anyone I asked would be more than willing to help me?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, I'm asking _you_."

"Glinda, that's not fair! You know I'd stay and help you if there was any way at all that I could do it without endangering either of us. But I'm afraid it's impossible."

"Impossible?" Glinda echoed, sounding as though she could hardly believe that the word had come out of her friend's mouth. "Whatever happened to 'unlimited,' and 'dreams the way we planned them,' and 'there's no fight we cannot win?' Elphie, don't you want those things anymore?"

"Of course I want those things!" Elphaba shot back, frustrated that the blonde was apparently so determined to make what had been a difficult decision even harder. "But we can't always have what we want."

"Well, you know me. I don't handle it well when I don't get my way," the shorter girl warned.

Elphaba could hardly contradict her on that point, and smirked slightly in agreement. "Perhaps you ought to go lie down."

Glinda giggled a bit at the reminder of their first day at Shiz. But then something suddenly seemed to occur to her. A new gleam in her eye, she asked, "Elphie… what if I could make it safe for you to come out of hiding? You'd stay, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would," the green girl confirmed without hesitation. "But I don't see how you could possibly do such a thing."

"Well, you're not the only one who can have brilliant ideas, you know," quipped Glinda.

"All right, then, what's this 'brilliant idea' of yours?"

"I'm going to tell all of Oz the truth. I'm going to clear your name."

"_What?!_ Glinda, no! We've had this discussion before. I can't let you do that. You'll be putting yourself in great danger if people refuse to believe you, which they very well might do. I'm not going to let you take the risk."

But the blonde stood firm. "I'm going to do it, Elphie, and there's nothing you can do to change my mind. I can be every bit as stubborn as you when I want to be, and I'm not giving up until I convince you to at least let me try."

"But it will never work!" protested Elphaba.

"Why not?" demanded Glinda. "I'm the ruler of all Oz. And as you pointed out a minute ago, everyone adores me. There's no reason why they shouldn't believe me."

"It's not that easy, Glin," Elphaba persisted with a shake of her head. "Everyone has been conditioned for years to think of me as the Wicked Witch of the West. You're not going to make Oz safe for me again in a single day."

"Well, of course not. I never expected to. I'll do it in stages," the shorter girl explained. Beginning to pace back and forth as she thought aloud, she mused, "First, I'll hold a press conference and tell everyone the truth about the day we met the Wizard, and about how you really became the Wicked Witch of the West, and about everything that happened up until Dorothy got to Kiamo Ko. They already know that Morrible and the Wizard were evil, so I don't think it will be too hard for anyone to accept that the two of them were spreading false stories about you. I'll start off with that much of the truth and then give it a little time to see how they take it. If they seem like they're willing to believe that much, then we'll know it's safe to tell them that you didn't really melt. And if not…" She stopped her pacing and turned to look at her emerald-skinned friend once more. "…Well, if not, then at least everyone will still think you're dead, and you and Fiyero can slip out of Oz quietly like you were planning to."

Elphaba was still dubious. "And what are you going to do if the first part of your plan doesn't work, and the people turn against you once they learn that you were best friends with the Wicked Witch of the West?"

For the first time, the blonde looked unsure of herself. After a moment's thought, she answered, "Ask you if you and Fiyero would mind having an extra traveling companion, I suppose."

"Glinda, you can't just disappear in the night and leave Oz without someone to govern it!" the green girl pointed out, casting her eyes towards the ceiling in exasperation.

"Well, then, I guess we'd better hope it doesn't come to that, hadn't we?" replied Glinda serenely.

"You say that as though I might actually agree to this crazy scheme of yours."

"It's no crazier than the scheme you cooked up to get rid of Morrible and the Wizard. And just look how that turned out – it worked perfectly!"

"That was different," insisted Elphaba. "We weren't relying on anyone other than ourselves and our closest friends, and we were all completely dedicated to making sure the plan went off without a hitch. What you're proposing, on the other hand… there's no possible way to be even _mostly_ certain it would work. It relies much too heavily on assumptions that you're making about the people of Oz, assumptions that may or may not turn out to be true."

Glinda gave the taller girl a confused look. "Assumptions? What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're taking it for granted that everyone will accept whatever you say as the truth, simply because it's _you_ who's saying it," Elphaba elaborated. "No offense, Glin, but I'm just worried that you may be giving yourself too much credit. Yes, the people all adore you. But the people are fickle – just look how easy it was for you to convince them that the Wizard and Morrible weren't the benevolent leaders they claimed to be. Remember, they all still believe I'm wicked. And no matter how much they claim to love you now, if you associate yourself with me, that could change in a heartbeat."

"Well, I may be giving myself too much credit," conceded the blonde, looking more than a little offended, "but I really think _you're_ giving me too _little_. I wouldn't be suggesting that we try this unless I thought it had an excellent chance of working. The people of Oz trust me, Elphaba. I would have hoped that my _best friend_ might be able to do the same."

Elphaba winced. "Glinda, it's not that I don't trust you. That's not it at all. I just… I've been responsible for so many awful things happening to you. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

Glinda softened at this, and took her friend firmly by the shoulders. "Elphaba Thropp, I don't ever want to hear such a dreadful lie come out of your mouth ever again!" she scolded gently. "_Nothing_ that's happened to me has been your fault. Not one single thing. Quite the opposite, in fact." When the green girl arched a skeptical eyebrow, the good witch laughed and wrapped her arms around her, capturing her friend in a quick version of one of her trademark hugs. Then she stepped back slightly to take the emerald hands in her own. "Elphie," she pleaded, "you've done so much for me… for all of us. Please let me do this for you."

The shorter girl's face was so earnest, so committed to making her plan a success, that Elphaba found it impossible to tell her an outright 'no.' But neither was she prepared to approve the idea just yet. So, instead of giving a definite answer, she settled for a compromise.

"I'll discuss it with Fiyero," she told her friend. "If he thinks it's worth trying, then I'll at least consider it. But that's as much as I'm going to promise at the moment."

"Fair enough," acquiesced Glinda, seeming pleased that the green girl had at least agreed not to discard the idea completely. "I'll be waiting to hear what you decide."

True to her word, Elphaba took the opportunity later that night to inform Fiyero of the blonde's proposed alternative to their leaving Oz. When she finished, neither of them spoke for several moments, both contemplating the possible pros and cons of Glinda's plan.

Finally, Fiyero broke the silence. "So… are you going to let her try?"

"I don't know," she confessed, shaking her head. "I told her I had to talk about it with you first – I wanted to see what you thought before I told her yes or no."

"I think it's a good idea, at least in theory," he opined. "If it worked, it'd mean that we could stay here, and you wouldn't have to leave your best friend."

"I know," she agreed, "and believe me, I want us to be able to stay just as badly as Glinda wants us to. The trouble is, ideas that are good in theory often turn out to be very _bad_ ideas when put into practice."

"You don't think it will really work," he realized.

"No, I don't."

"Why not?"

"Because all the best intentions in the world aren't enough to dislodge a belief that's been held for years by an entire country."

"I think you ought to give Glinda a chance to try," Fiyero maintained. "You never know – she might surprise you."

"Yes, and she might just as easily get herself lynched by the same bloodthirsty mob that was screaming for my death not too long ago," she pointed out.

He shook his head. "Elphaba, you never think twice about putting yourself at risk to help the people you care about. Why shouldn't Glinda be the same way?"

"I have no problem with her wanting to help me, or with the general idea of letting her," she conceded. "But… but she doesn't seem to understand just what she could be walking into in this case if something goes wrong! I'm not going to let her get hurt again because of me. I refuse." She planted her hands firmly on her hips and fixed him with a determined look, daring him to challenge her decision.

But Fiyero was unfazed, and met her look with one of his own. "Now, be honest – what would your response be if Glinda or I said something like that to you?"

Elphaba considered this for a moment before admitting grudgingly, "I suppose I'd tell you that you were being absolutely ridiculous, and that I'm a grown woman and perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and that if I think it necessary to take a risk once in a while to protect someone I love, it's my own business."

"Well, there you go," he nodded, satisfied that he had made his point. "That's exactly what Glinda is trying to say to you. Look, I agree with you that what she wants to do could be very dangerous. And I don't want her to get herself into trouble any more than you do. But I also think she has every right to decide for herself if she wants to put herself in harm's way."

"But Fiyero, she doesn't have a sufficient grasp of the danger involved!" she persisted. "I've tried to make her see reason, but she simply won't listen to me. The girl has no common sense to speak of!"

"Well, be that as it may," he remarked, tactfully avoiding the issue of the quantity (or lack thereof) of common sense possessed by their blonde friend, "she doesn't want someone else – even you – making her choices for her, any more than _you_ would want someone else making your choices for _you_. I know you may not like that, but surely you can at least respect it."

She fumbled about for a moment in an attempt to come up with an adequate rebuttal to that point. But, to her immense frustration, she found it impossible to argue with the truth of what he had said. Defeated, she flung herself down to sit on the edge of the bed and shot him a half-hearted glare. "You know, I really hate it when you're right," she complained, crossing her arms petulantly.

"I know, I know," Fiyero laughed as he came over to sit beside her. Then, putting an arm around her, he reiterated, "I really do think you should let her try. Just think of what it'll mean for us if her plan works! And even if it doesn't, we certainly won't be any worse off than we are now. Either way, it won't cause us any harm to let her do it."

"And I also hate it when you and Glinda gang up on me like that," she informed him with a frown.

"Well, you can't be right _all_ the time," he shrugged in his own defense, "and combining forces is about the only way anyone could hope to win an argument with you."

"I don't see how that's fair to me. I'm outnumbered."

"Not really. You're worth at least three of any of us ordinary people."

"That's not going to work, I'm afraid. I'm not susceptible to flattery, my sweet."

"Except when it's coming from me," he corrected her declaration with a grin.

Elphaba couldn't help but laugh at that. "All right, maybe then I am. But _only_ then."

He nodded, pleased. "So you'll let Glinda see what she can do to clear your name?"

"I suppose so," she acquiesced. "Although it doesn't really seem like I have much of a choice in the matter, since you two are apparently both so dead set on it."

"Elphaba, you always have a choice," he told her, quickly becoming serious. "We would never make you do something you really didn't want to do."

Sighing heavily, she conceded, "I know that. And I really do want to stay here with Glinda if she can make it possible."

"Well, the sooner we tell her to go ahead, the sooner we'll know if she can."

So it was settled. Elphaba gave Glinda permission to proceed, and the blonde began to make arrangements for the public appearance that would kick off the first phase of her plan to clear her friend's name. It took her an entire ten days of serious deliberation and no fewer than six preliminary drafts of her speech to decide, with a great deal of input from Elphaba, exactly what she wanted to say. Glinda had gained more political savvy during her years spent in close proximity to the Wizard than any of them, including herself, would ever have suspected. She knew that she had to choose her words with great care. These things must be done delicately if one wanted to keep one's political credibility intact, after all; she could not afford to come on too strong too soon.

Finally she managed to write up a version of her speech with which both she and her emerald-skinned friend were satisfied. She practiced it over and over for Elphaba, Fiyero, and Boq, accepting and implementing their suggestions and corrections each time, until she knew every word by heart and was confident that she could have done it in her sleep. She was as ready as she would ever be. Now all that remained was to wait patiently until the date set for the announcement arrived.

On the day selected for Glinda's appearance, the enormous public square near the palace was packed full of Ozians waiting with bated breath to hear their new ruler's reason for calling such a meeting. Workers had just the day before finished constructing the platform from which she would speak. In the throng, reporters from every major Ozian newspaper stood ready and waiting to take down her every word and gesture. Her speech would be printed in all the papers in its entirety the next day, along with the crowd's initial reaction, in which manner it would soon reach the rest of the citizens of Oz who could not be present to hear it in person. The stage was set, and now it was time to begin the performance and let it unfold to its conclusion. The good witch just wished that she knew for certain what that conclusion was going to be.

At precisely the time appointed for the day's events to begin, Glinda made her appearance, to applause and murmured comments of admiration from the onlookers. She acknowledged their support and approval with a gracious smile and waited for them to quiet down and give her their full attention. When they were all watching her expectantly, she stepped up to the microphone that had been provided for her, drew a deep breath, and began to address the assembled crowd.

"Fellow Ozians: as you know, it has now been some weeks since Dorothy Gale arrived here from Kansas and rid our land of the Wicked Witch of the West. Rest assured, I share your joy that Oz has been cleansed of the stain of evil."

Scattered cheers and applause broke out at her words, and she held up both hands for silence so she could continue. "However, it has come to my attention that the things we have all come to believe about this Wicked Witch may not be entirely true."

Her audience gave a collective gasp, and currents of shock rippled through the square. All eyes remained glued to Glinda, waiting for her to explain herself.

"You see, the things that we have all been told about her were told to us by the Wizard and his press secretary, Madam Morrible. And as you all know, both of them later proved to be corrupt and dishonest leaders who could not be trusted. So, in the spirit of honesty and justice, I took it upon myself to personally investigate the rumors and stories about her that have sprung up over the years. And, my dear fellow Ozians, I know you will be every bit as surprised and outraged as I was at what I found. I learned that the Wizard and Madam Morrible knew full well that all the things they told you about her were lies. And furthermore, I was able to discover her real story, which they kept hidden from you because it exposes their true cruelty and wickedness. Would you like to hear it?"

For a few moments, it seemed that the crowd was still too stunned by the bold assertions she had made to respond to her question. But then, here and there, a few people began to nod slowly. Then a murmur of assent came from someone towards the rear of the throng, and the affirmative answer was quickly taken up by the rest of the audience. They could scarcely comprehend what Glinda was saying, and had it been anyone else making such an outrageous claim, they would never have listened to another word. But the good witch seemed so confident standing before them – she obviously believed what she had told them without a shadow of a doubt. From what she had said, it sounded as though she had been deceived right along with them, and now that she knew the truth, she wanted to make sure that they heard it as well. Surely such a noble purpose made what she had to say worth listening to. And besides, this was their beloved Glinda the Good. She would never lie to them, not about something this important. And so they turned their attention back to the platform, cautiously curious to hear more.

Encouraged by the way things were going so far, the blonde nodded to herself in approval of the crowd's reaction. The difficult part, getting the people of Oz on her side, had been accomplished. Now she just had to ensure their sympathy by telling them Elphaba's story in such a way that they couldn't help but realize that she was the victim, not the criminal.

"Why does wickedness happen?" she began in a thoughtful tone. "This is a good question, one that many people find confusifying. Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them? After all, she had a childhood. She had a father, who just happened to be the Governor of Munchkinland. And she had a mother, as so many do." She paused for a moment or two to let them contemplate the idea of the Wicked Witch of the West as a little girl. Judging from the looks on their faces, they had never bothered to consider that even a wicked witch had to come from somewhere. Then, lowering her tone to sound more confidential, she continued, "And, like every family, they had their secrets…"

Glinda then proceeded to tell her listeners, who were now hanging on her every word, about Melena's affair with a traveling salesman who peddled a strange, intoxicating green elixir, and about the birth of a green-skinned baby nine months later. She told them how Frex had rejected his abnormally-colored daughter from the very beginning, and how he had made his wife chew milkflowers when she became pregnant a second time to ensure that the baby would be the proper color, and how the milkflowers had led to the new baby's premature birth and twisted legs, Melena's death, and the older daughter's being blamed for all of it.

"But… but that's not fair!" a little girl near the front of the crowd piped up, an indignant frown on her small face. "It wasn't her fault that her mama died! It was the milkflowers!"

"You're absolutely right, it _was_ the milkflowers' fault. And it's not fair at all," Glinda agreed. "But unfortunately, it happened anyway."

"And just how do you know all this?" a woman nearby asked, more than a hint of skepticism in her tone. "Where did you find out so much about her childhood?"

Before Glinda could reply to that, a man spoke up. "I heard somewhere that she knew the Witch," he answered the woman's inquiry. Then he turned his attention back to the good witch. "Glinda, is it true you were her friend?"

A woman standing next to him smacked him reprovingly on the shoulder, looking furious and horribly embarrassed that he would dare insinuate such a relationship between their goodly ruler and the Wicked Witch of the West.

But the blonde had been intending to reveal this particular piece of information anyway, so the question did not faze her in the least. She smiled gently at the man and nodded. "Yes, it's true," she confirmed, generating another round of gasps and muffled exclamations of surprise. "Our paths first crossed at school – Shiz University, to be exact…"

Telling this part came as easily and naturally to Glinda as breathing, because this was her story just as much as it was Elphaba's. She had lived it all herself, and she knew the ringing sincerity in her voice and all the precise details she provided would wipe any doubt from the listeners' minds that she was telling the truth. She recounted how she and Elphaba had become friends at the Oz Dust Ballroom, and how Elphaba's magical abilities had earned her a meeting with the Wizard, to which she had invited Glinda to accompany her. Then came the story of their meeting with Oz the Great and Terrible, followed by how Elphaba had fled after refusing to allow the Wizard and Morrible to exploit her talents, and how this had prompted them to label her the Wicked Witch of the West so that no one would believe her if she tried to tell them what Oz's leaders were really up to.

"Wait a minute," a second man called out then. "If all the things they said about her were lies… then was there ever anything evil about her in the first place?"

A woman standing nearby overheard his question and commented, "You know, come to think of it, I don't remember them ever telling us about any specific wicked things that she was supposed to have done. It was always just reminders that she was an enemy of Oz and warnings to beware of her."

"She mutilated those poor, innocent monkeys," pointed out the man who had asked if Glinda had been the Witch's friend. "It was her spell that made them sprout wings."

"Weren't you listening to anything Glinda said? The Wizard and Madam Morrible tricked her into doing that," the woman shot back. "She wasn't trying to hurt the monkeys. She didn't know what the spell was they asked her to cast."

"And you actually _believe_ that?" scoffed the man, giving her a disparaging look.

The woman countered his disdainful superiority with a calm assurance. "Since it was Glinda herself who told us so, yes, I do believe it. And so should you."

"Or are you trying to call Glinda a liar?" piped up the woman standing next to him, the one who had hit him earlier, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at him.

This simple question also provoked the rest of the crowd, who began to turn their attention towards the man in a distinctly threatening manner. Several of the people closest to him began to press in, ready to take action to defend their new ruler.

Startled by the sudden animosity that was being directed at him, the man shrank back a little, looking around nervously. "No, no, I would never! All I meant was… I just think…"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't," suggested his companion sharply, earning herself a few appreciative laughs.

Properly chastened, the man ducked his head, and sensibly kept his mouth shut from that point on.

Glinda couldn't help but smile, thinking that Elphaba would definitely have approved of the woman's quick and witty response. Holding up both hands once again for silence, she addressed the question that had set off the crowd. "After looking into the matter thoroughly, it is my belief that there was never anything even remotely wicked about the so-called Wicked Witch of the West. She was cruelly used by the Wizard and Madam Morrible as a tool to maintain their power over Oz. In reality, she was no wickeder than any of the rest of us."

A young woman in the middle of the crowd raised her hand, in which was clutched a pencil. Her other hand was occupied by a small notepad, marking her as one of the many reporters in the audience. "Glinda," she addressed the blonde in a clear voice, "after what you've just told us, no one could doubt that the Wizard and Madam Morrible did lie to us about the woman they called the Wicked Witch of the West. But can _you_ of all people really believe that she wasn't wicked? After all, she kidnapped your fiancé on the very day of your engagement party, and he hasn't been heard from since – some people have even gone so far as to claim that she killed him! Forgive me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't sound to me like something a good person would do."

"You're absolutely right. Doing such a thing would make her very wicked indeed, wouldn't it?" Glinda agreed. "But it never happened. That is yet another of the lies that were spread about her." She sighed heavily as she met the gaze of the girl who had spoken. "And I am afraid that I myself must take some of the blame for this one. No, I did not make up the story, or spread it, but I allowed it to be spread. I let them tell it because it seemed easier at the time than accepting the truth."

"Then, if I may ask… what really happened?" inquired the female reporter, her pencil poised to take down the response.

Glinda closed her eyes briefly. The words to answer that question were difficult for her to say in the privacy of her own mind, let alone in front of a crowd of people. But everyone was waiting to hear what her reply would be; she _had_ to answer. She drew a deep breath, hoping it would give her the strength to admit to the people of Oz what she had to.

"He chose to leave with her of his own free will. And although many of you may believe otherwise, his decision was the right one. He was in love with her, you see. I think he had been for quite a long time, only… I had refused to see it. But none of us can decide who our hearts will choose. All we can do is follow them once their choice is made. And Fiyero had to follow his. I can't blame him for it. He did nothing wrong by leaving. And she certainly did not kidnap him."

The young journalist's features softened into a slight smile. She jotted down the blonde's remarks with practiced ease, and then gave an appreciative nod. "Thank you, Glinda."

Glinda acknowledged her gratitude with a smile and a nod of her own before turning her attention back to the rest of the audience. "Well, as you can imagine, I have much to attend to, what with the Wizard's unexpected departure, so if there are no further questions, I'm afraid I must be on my way." She paused for a moment to ensure that no one else had anything to ask her. Then, in the most serious, convincing tone she could muster, she concluded, "Fellow Ozians, I give you my solemn word that everything I have told you today is the absolute truth. What you will do with that truth now, each of you must decide for yourself. But I hope that you will all trust me enough to accept it."

Seldom had Oz seen a declaration as controversial as the one its new leader had made today. After Glinda had finished speaking, the reporters in the crowd remained only long enough to put the last touches on their notes. Five minutes after the blonde had bubbled off into the clear blue sky, they were all rushing back to their respective newspapers' headquarters as fast as their feet could carry them. A quarter of an hour after that, every one of them was seated at his or her desk, banging out the first rough drafts of the articles that would dominate the front pages of the next day's editions.

Twenty-four hours after Glinda's speech, the entire Emerald City was abuzz with the astounding truths she had revealed. No one within walking distance of the public square could speak of anything else. And it didn't take more than a few days after that for the uproar to reach the farthest corners of the country. Every paper in the Emerald City had dispatched one or two of their reporters to deliver special editions containing Glinda's speech and what the people who heard it had thought of it, and the enterprising journalists took the opportunity to observe how the people of Oz reacted to the news.

In another week, the reporters began to return, bearing the results of their news-gathering. Glinda's speech, it seemed, had been met with considerable surprise, but almost unanimous acceptance. By the time that two full weeks had passed since her announcement, it was clear that the first part of her plan to clear Elphaba's name had been a resounding success. Just as the blonde had predicted, the people of Oz had taken her words to heart and believed them simply because they had come from her mouth. Being the goodly person that she was, Glinda managed to restrain herself from gloating or even saying, 'I told you so.' However, she was unable to completely conceal her grin of triumph, and the wry look Elphaba cast her proved that she knew exactly what her friend was thinking, even if the blonde was too polite to say it aloud.

* * *

**So, phase one of Glinda's master plan went off without a hitch. But they still have phase two to go. Will it be as successful as phase one? Stay tuned for the final chapter of Lost and Found (for real this time!) to find out!**

**Reviews will be rewarded with a batch of freshly-baked virtual cookies of whatever variety you desire. And don't forget, anyone who finds the Wizard of Oz quote gets a cupcake on top of that.**


	27. Half of Oz's Favorite Team

**A/N: And so, my beloved readers, we come to the end of the road. Yes, believe it or not, this is actually the very last chapter. And I'm telling the truth this time. It's been a wild and crazy ride, and I wish it could have lasted forever. But sadly, all good things must come to an end.**

**I want to thank each and every one of you for sharing the journey with me. When I posted Chapter One back on December 14****th**** of 2006 (yes, it's been 20 months, two weeks, and two days since I started this story – time flies when you're having fun!), I couldn't possibly have imagined the phenomenal response it ended up getting. Thank you all for making the effort worth every drop of the emotional blood, sweat, and tears it took.**

**I need to pause and say an extra-special thank you to a few people who have given me a great deal of help throughout the writing process of this story…**

**Lauren – My very first Fan Fiction friend, this story would never have been born without you. Those long IM chats we had where you helped me figure out how to incorporate all the important elements of the musical were absolutely vital to the success of the project. Thanks for helping me brainstorm this thing into life.**

**Eve – What can I say, my pretty? At this point, this story is nearly as much yours as it is mine. I can't possibly put into words how grateful I am for all the help you've given me throughout the process – you and all your muses! Thanks for letting me pick your brain and for sticking up for me when my muse was being… well, herself. LOL.**

**Robynne – I'm so glad I get to be your Wicked beta! Reading your story has been really good for me. I love your characterizations, they make me think about the characters in new ways that I might not have seen otherwise, and that inspires me and makes me want to write. So thanks for motivating me and keeping my perspectives of the characters fresh.**

**And now, enough of this too-long, overly sentimental author's note, and on with the final installment of Lost and Found!**

**Disclaimer: After twenty and a half months you'd think I'd have some claim to it, but even after all this time, I still don't own Wicked.**

* * *

Elphaba had known from the beginning, of course, what the next step of Glinda's grand scheme was to be if the first part of the plan worked. However, knowing that it was coming did not do anything to lessen the anxiety that gripped her when the shorter girl declared that it was time for the people of Oz to meet her.

"We've come this far, Elphie," Glinda pointed out when she realized that her friend was beginning to have second thoughts about letting everyone know she was still among the living. "The hardest part's over, and it went even better than I'd hoped. It would be a real shame to let that effort go to waste now just because you're getting cold feet."

"Well, excuse me for being a little reluctant to reveal myself to a bunch of people who were quite content to think I was dead until a couple of weeks ago!" snapped Elphaba indignantly.

The blonde cast her eyes briefly towards the ceiling. "Would you relax? That couple of weeks has made all the difference in the world. Everyone knows now that you aren't wicked. Why, there was even an editorial in one of the papers denouncing the population of Oz as a whole for accepting the stories about you without proof!"

"That's true," Elphaba conceded, "and I really do appreciate all you've done for me. But it's much easier to think better of someone once they're dead. If they find out I'm still alive, the people might change their minds and decide that I'm wicked after all. There's no way to predict what they might do."

"That's not going to happen, Elphie," Glinda assured her confidently. "And even if it does, I'll be right there beside you, and I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. No one will dare lay a finger on you, not as long as I'm there. I won't let them." She drew herself up to her full height and did her best to appear intimidating and in control. The effect was, admittedly, not quite as imposing as Elphaba could achieve when she wanted to, but the green girl knew that the authority her friend wielded as the ruler of Oz made her a force to be reckoned with all the same. A guarantee of safety from Glinda would be more effective protection than a dozen armed guards – no one would dare go against the wishes of the leader they adored.

"All right," Elphaba acquiesced finally, accepting her friend's promise that no harm would be allowed to come to her. "But I still don't see why it has to be such a huge public event. I know you live for all the dramatics, but couldn't we take this in small steps?"

The blonde shook her head and insisted, "No, we most certainly cannot. It'll be over faster this way – you'll only have to make one appearance, as opposed to quite a few more than that if we do what you're suggesting. And you have to show everyone that you refuse to let the things that people said about you intimidate you. If you go skulking from town to town, people will start to wonder why you're keeping such a low profile. Announcing your return in a big, grand public gathering will prove to everyone that you've got nothing to hide."

Elphaba considered her friend's reasoning for several moments, and finally had to admit, "You know, Glin, oddly enough, that actually makes a lot of sense."

"You don't need to sound so surprised about it," sniffed Glinda in mock offense. "I do try to think things through from time to time."

"Yes, well, don't try _too_ hard; we can't have you hurting yourself," Elphaba shot back with a smirk.

"Oh, ha ha, very funny. You're just _hilarious_. Really."

"And sarcasm, too? Well, what do you know – I really _have_ been a good influence on you."

"That depends on your definition of 'good,' I think," countered the shorter girl archly.

"Touché," laughed Elphaba. "Well, then, since you're practicing thinking things through at the moment, have you thought of where you're going to tell everyone I've been since Dorothy melted me? Because if people find out that I've been hiding out in the palace this whole time with your help, there could be trouble."

"Naturally I've considered that," Glinda confirmed, a bit haughtily. "And yes, I do know what I'm going to tell everyone." She cleared her throat and assumed the persona and voice that she used when speaking to a crowd of people. "My dear friend Elphie, in order to escape the constant persecution that had plagued her for so long, decided to fake her own death so that she could live peacefully with Fiyero, the former Captain of the Guard, as they both wanted to do. However, given the recent developments, she decided that it was safe enough to come out of hiding and pay me a visit to explain what she had done, and I was positively delighted to see her and to learn that the story of her death was nothing more than an elaborate hoax."

Elphaba nodded sagely. "And of course everyone else will be just as delighted to see me as you were."

"They will," Glinda agreed, ignoring her friend's blatant sarcasm. "I read in one of the papers that a lot of people are actually feeling rather guilty now about just standing by and letting the Wizard send Dorothy to kill you. They'll all be immensely relieved that they don't have to blame themselves for your death anymore."

"Well, if it's going to take the burden off so many guilty consciences…"

"Oh, don't be snide. They'll be glad to see you're all right, I know they will."

"I wouldn't count on that," Elphaba advised, still dubious. But then she let her expression relax into a slight smile and continued in a more serious tone, "But I've trusted you so far, and I haven't regretted it yet. I suppose I can trust you on this, too."

Glinda beamed at her friend's vote of confidence. "Thank you, Elphie. You won't be sorry. I just _know_ this is going to work." Then she tilted her head slightly to one side, studying the green girl critically. "Now, let's talk about what you're going to wear."

The smile dropped off Elphaba's face, and she narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously.

"Now Elphie, don't look at me like that!" chided Glinda. "I know, I know, people should care about you for who you are, not what you look like. But the fact of the matter is, people judge by appearances. And first impressions are critical, so it's absolutely _essential_ that you make a good one, especially in this situation."

"And you don't think what I usually wear will make the right first impression?" the green girl concluded, though she made it more of a statement than a question. The fact that Glinda had brought the matter up at all clearly showed that Elphaba was correct.

"It's not that there's anything _wrong_ with your dress," Glinda was quick to assure her, in an attempt to avoid giving offense. "It's just that…" She broke off for a moment, struggling to find a polite way to phrase what she was trying to say. Finally she finished, "…well, it's just a tiny bit… _witchy_."

Elphaba couldn't hold back a ripple of laughter at her friend's tiptoeing around the issue and then stating the obvious. "Yes, Glin, that was rather why I chose it. Like you said, appearances are very important."

"This is no laughing matter, Elphie!" Glinda scowled. "Witchy is exactly the image you _don't_ want to give off at this meeting. I suppose you can still wear black if you absolutely _must_, but you need a dress that will help people see you for what you are."

"And what exactly am I?" wondered Elphaba, raising an eyebrow.

"A normal person who just happens to look… slightly different from everyone else," the blonde replied diplomatically.

Elphaba's eyebrows shot up even farther in amusement at her friend's struggles to put things tactfully. "Only 'slightly' different?"

Glinda pursed her lips reproachfully, and declined to answer her friend's question. "And about your hat…"

"Is it too witchy, too?" Elphaba asked innocently.

"It might be a good idea to leave it off," the blonde confirmed, ignoring the slight hint of mockery in the taller girl's tone. "And for Oz's sake, please do your best not to be so… so…"

"Witchy?"

"Well, I was thinking of something more along the lines of 'terrifying,' but I suppose you could put it that way."

They only had a few days until the date when Glinda had scheduled the second of the two appearances required by her plan. The blonde spent the rest of the time making sure Elphaba knew everything she could possibly need to know for her introduction to the people of Oz. She coached her friend in everything from the proper way to stand so as to look open and approachable, to the dos and don'ts of talking to reporters. Glinda soon discovered that she had quite an apt pupil, and remarked how impressed she was with how quickly the green girl learned her lessons. To this, Elphaba replied that as the daughter of the Governor of Munchkinland she'd had to cultivate _some_ semblance of proper social behavior; she simply chose to let people believe otherwise.

By the time the actual day arrived, Elphaba's head was so full of instructions on how to behave that she knew she'd lose everything Glinda had told her if she tried to cram in one more piece of information. However, it seemed that even with everything she was expected to remember, there was still more than enough room in her mind to allow for plenty of near-panicking. She stood in the shadows behind the platform in the public square, waiting for Glinda's cue to join her up in front of the crowd, pacing back and forth in a futile attempt to calm herself.

Fiyero was waiting with her, and after a minute or two of watching her, he finally reached out and took her hand to stop her restless movement. "Elphaba, calm down. Everything's going to be fine. This is going to work."

"But what if it doesn't?"

"It _will_."

"You can't know that. Not for sure." She shook her head. "I can't believe I'm doing this. I must have been out of my mind when I said I'd do this. What was I thinking?"

"You were thinking that _when_ it works, you'll finally be able to come out of hiding and live a normal life without having to worry about people hating you."

"Things are never going to be that simple, my sweet. In case you haven't noticed by now, 'normal' is not a word that could ever be used in connection with me in any respect. And even if this does work, there are always going to be people who will only see me as the Wicked Witch of the West."

"All right, so it won't be perfect," he admitted. "That's to be expected. But it will be better than having to stay hidden for the rest of your life, or having to leave your best friend."

Elphaba had to concede that point. The benefits they would gain from today's appearance (provided that it all went according to Glinda's master plan, of course) far outweighed the risks involved. No matter how nervous she was, she had to remember that. The end result would be worth every bit of what it had taken to achieve it. Or at least, she certainly hoped so.

"You're right," she nodded, exhaling deeply as she tried to slow her racing heartbeat. "If it's going to let us stay here with Glinda, it's worth taking a few chances."

Despite her somewhat more assured tone, Fiyero must have realized that she was still far from confident about the plan's success, because he put his arms around her and pulled her close. "And don't forget, I'm going to be right there with you, and so is Glinda," he reminded her. "Between the two of us, no one's going to get near you without our permission. Nothing is going to happen to you, I promise."

"It's not myself I'm worried about," she informed him with a frown. But she allowed herself to relax against him for a brief moment, resting her head on his shoulder, and pretend that she believed him.

In another minute, she had no more time for panicking, hoping, pretending, or anything else. Glinda had begun speaking to the crowd, and she had to focus on the blonde's words so she didn't miss her signal to come up onto the platform.

"My dear fellow Ozians," Glinda was saying, "I've asked you all to come here today because I have recently received some very good news. I hope you'll all be as pleased by it as I was. As you know, I was close friends with Elphaba Thropp, formerly known as the Wicked Witch of the West, so I was quite upset when I learned that the Wizard had sent the little girl Dorothy Gale to kill her. And you can imagine how distraught I was when we heard that Dorothy had succeeded. But then, only a short time ago, my dear friend Elphie came to pay me a visit. It turns out that she never died after all! She explained to me that she had faked her own death to escape the people who were constantly hunting her, but now that everyone knows the truth about her, she felt that it was safe enough to come out of hiding. In fact, she even agreed to come here with me today so that you can all meet her properly."

There were widespread murmurs of shock at this declaration. But, to Elphaba's surprise, the majority of the voices she could hear didn't sound angry, or even afraid. Rather, they merely seemed curious… curious about _her_. In all her life, she had never had so many people genuinely interested in her as a person. It was somehow both flattering and unnerving at the same time, and she had to fight to keep herself focused on Glinda's speech.

"I hope that you will all make her feel welcome," the blonde finished. "Perhaps, in a small way, we can show her that there are some decent people in Oz, despite the many reasons we've given her to believe otherwise."

And just like that, it had arrived – the moment that they had been planning and preparing for since Glinda had first gotten her grand idea. For several clock-ticks, Elphaba seriously considered employing the spell she had used to vanish from the scaffold the last time she'd been at the palace. However, she quickly thought better of it. If she ran away today – and that was unquestionably what she would be doing if she decided to conveniently disappear – she would not be escaping the ordeal that awaited her. All she would be doing would be putting it off a while longer. It was obvious by now that Glinda was not going to give up until she had seen her plan through to the end, so Elphaba might as well do what she was expected to, if only to get it over with sooner rather than later.

And besides, if there was one thing Elphaba Thropp was not, it was a coward. She had never let fear get the better of her in the past, and she certainly wasn't about to start now. So she raised her chin, squared her shoulders, and accepted the hand that Fiyero offered her to help her up the steps to the platform. The sound of his footsteps right behind her was reassuring, and by keeping her eyes fixed on Glinda, who stood waiting for her with an encouraging smile, she found herself standing next to her blonde friend almost before she knew what was happening. Having taken her place, she surveyed the crowd with anxious eyes, trying to gauge what their response was going to be.

For several long moments, there was complete silence as everyone took in the sight of the emerald-skinned woman in front of them and wrapped their minds around the fact that she was really standing there, alive. It felt as though everyone was holding their breath, waiting for someone else's reaction on which to base their own. Elphaba concentrated on breathing deeply to keep herself calm, grateful that at least no one seemed to be showing any obvious animosity towards her yet.

Finally the unsettling hush was broken by a little boy near the front of the throng. "But she _can't_ be a bad witch," he spoke up, sounding puzzled by his own realization. "Everybody knows bad witches are old and ugly."

After a moment, others in the audience began to express their agreement with the boy's simple declaration. Elphaba watched as the expressions on peoples' faces visibly changed from curious to cautiously accepting. And that was when it hit her that Glinda's plan was working. It _had_ worked. By some miracle, her friend had pulled off what the green girl had been certain could not be done.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind of answering questions, talking to reporters, and mingling with the people who had come out to hear Glinda's latest announcement. Of course, there were surely those who resented being asked to respect someone they were accustomed to reviling. But no one expressed any such thoughts aloud – on the contrary, most people seemed quite eager to meet the girl who had caused so much uproar in Oz.

At first, Elphaba was terribly uncomfortable having so much attention directed at her. She had spent her entire life trying to be as unnoticeable as she could, and such a complete reversal of her normal behavior made her rather stiff and awkward at first. But after a little while, her mind finally began to accept that the people she was meeting were not out to get her. Eventually she was able to relax somewhat, and once she had gotten over her initial tension, she found that talking with the masses of people was not quite as unpleasant as she'd expected. Some of them even asked her very intelligent, thoughtful questions, which she discovered to her surprise that she was pleased to answer. And it seemed that the more comfortable she became with the people, the more comfortable they became with her.

Of course, these were only the people of the Emerald City itself. It remained to be seen what the rest of Oz would think of Glinda's second huge announcement. But, as it turned out, the reaction of the crowd in the square was a surprisingly accurate representation of the opinion of the country as a whole. Elphaba had never actually done anything to hurt any of them, so when it came right down to it, they had no real reason to be upset that she was still alive, especially after having learned from Glinda that the green girl was not wicked after all.

Now that there was no more need to keep their presence a secret, Glinda saw to it that Elphaba, Fiyero, and Boq were given the best accommodations the palace had to offer. Elphaba's new room was the biggest and certainly the grandest that she'd ever had, and she felt more than a little out of place in such surroundings. But she knew that the blonde enjoyed being able to provide for her friends in such a luxurious manner, so she kept her opinions on the matter to herself.

It was to this room that Glinda came to visit her friend and remind her of the reason why she had agreed to stay in the first place. "Elphie," she began, "you said that if I could make it safe for you to come out of hiding, you'd stay here with me and help me run things."

"That I did," Elphaba agreed, recalling the conversation. "And I meant it. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Glinda nodded. "I know. But… I don't think you quite understand exactly what kind of help I'm talking about."

"What do you mean?" the green girl asked, giving her friend a puzzled look.

"Elphie, I don't want you to stay and help me as just some sort of advisor or something," the blonde explained. "I want you to help me rule Oz as my equal. As my co-ruler."

Elphaba blinked in surprise. For a moment, she wasn't sure that she had heard the blonde correctly. "You want me to be your co-ruler?" she repeated uncertainly.

"That's right," confirmed Glinda.

"But… _why?_"

"Because you're the perfect person for the job. You're so much smarter than me, Elphie, you always have been. I can handle all the little everyday things – signing papers, settling minor disputes – but I'm no good when it comes to big, important political things. Not like you would be. And people would respect you, they'd take you seriously in a way I don't think they could ever do with me."

Elphaba considered her words carefully before replying, "People took the news that I was still alive better than I would ever have expected, I'll give you that. But just because they aren't coming after me with torches and pitchforks anymore doesn't mean they want me sharing power equally with you and helping you rule the country."

"Well, why shouldn't they?" Glinda wondered. "They'll understand that I need someone else with me to share the responsibilities. And I can't imagine why they wouldn't be as accepting of you as they would of anyone else I chose."

"Really? _I_ certainly can."

"That's because you take some kind of perverse pleasure in looking on the dark side of things whenever possible."

"Well, be that as it may, I can't think of one single reason why the people of Oz would accept me as your co-ruler."

"Reason's got nothing to do with it, Elphie," the blonde informed her primly. "If you think about it, they didn't have any particularly strong reason to accept me as the new ruler when the Wizard left, either."

"That's true, I guess," Elphaba had to concede.

Sensing that her friend was beginning to come around to the idea, Glinda continued, "And you could do so much to help the country, to fix all the awful things the Wizard did." Then a cunning gleam flashed in her eyes, and she added, "Especially to the Animals."

That caught Elphaba's attention, just as her friend had intended it to. Before she could stop herself, she found herself imagining all the good she could do with the kind of authority Glinda was offering. "We could help the Animals…"

"We could!" the blonde agreed with an enthusiastic smile, which was made all the brighter by the certain knowledge that she now had her friend entirely taken in by the idea. "They need someone to represent them, and they trust you. They know you'll look out for them. With you and me ruling together, they'll eventually come to understand that they can trust the government again."

"The Animals might trust me," Elphaba concurred, "but what about the rest of Oz? What reason will they have to believe I'd be a good ruler?"

"Well, you've already got plenty of experience being in charge of others," Glinda reminded her. "You ran that Animal hideout of yours all by yourself for quite a long time. You know how to balance one person's needs against another's, and how to decide what issues have to be dealt with right away and which can wait."

"But none of them were there. They didn't see any of that. They won't care."

"Well, then, we'll show them."

"How?"

The blonde's prompt reply told Elphaba that this was not the first time her friend had considered this question. "The people in charge of the individual provinces of Oz used to report to the Wizard. A council of sorts, if you will. I guess they report to me now, but I haven't talked with any of them yet since I took over running things. I'll invite them all to come for a meeting, and introduce you to them. They'll see how smart you are, and how much you genuinely want to make Oz better, and then when I announce that I'm making you my co-ruler, they'll know that I've made a good choice. They'll already have met you, so they'll accept you without any trouble, and once they do, so will the rest of the people in their provinces. People are like sheep, you know – get the one in charge to do something, and the rest will follow."

The green girl raised an eyebrow. "If people are like sheep, what does that make you?"

"Why, the shepherdess, of course," Glinda told her with a grin.

It took a good deal more convincing, but Elphaba finally allowed herself to be persuaded to go along with Glinda's newest plan. After all, both of her friend's previous ideas had worked as well as could possibly have been expected. Surprising though it was, it seemed the blonde had a knack for these sorts of things. Elphaba agreed to comply with Glinda's strategy of meeting first with the small council of the rulers of the individual provinces. If that introduction went well, she told her friend, she would let Glinda find out what the rest of Oz thought of the green girl as her co-ruler.

Elphaba decided it would be best not to let herself think past this point for the time being. The thought of actually being partially in charge of an entire country terrified her every bit as much as it did her friend, though she would never let Glinda see it. She didn't want to rule any more than Glinda had. In fact, it had taken all the courage she possessed not to refuse the blonde's proposal outright.

But it was because of her and her plan to get rid of Morrible and the Wizard that Glinda had become the ruler of Oz in the first place. Elphaba couldn't very well expect her friend to shoulder a responsibility that she herself wasn't willing to take on. What was more, she had promised that she would help the blonde in any way she could. And if this was how she could be of the most help to Glinda, then she would do it.

These thoughts were enough to occupy her mind completely in many free moments. However, her anxieties about assuming the duties of a ruler were soon eclipsed by a much more immediate worry. In keeping with her new strategy, Glinda had summoned the people in charge of the four provinces of Oz for a meeting with their new ruler. But for some reason, it had not occurred to Elphaba when she agreed to her friend's plan that two of those people would be the King and Queen of the Vinkus – otherwise known as Fiyero's mother and father.

Since taking up residence in the palace, Fiyero had written a long letter to his parents, telling them about everything that had happened, and informing them of his relationship with Elphaba. Delighted to hear from their son, they had written back quickly, and Fiyero swore up and down that his mother and father were eager to meet the young lady of whom he had spoken so highly. However, Elphaba was not convinced in the least, and dreaded meeting his parents face-to-face.

"You were going to have to meet them sooner or later, love," he pointed out in an attempt to comfort her. "At least you're getting it over with."

"They're going to hate me," she predicted miserably. "They're going to hate me, and then you're going to be torn between me and them, and I don't want to put you through that."

"That isn't going to happen," he assured her confidently. "My parents are not going to hate you, Elphaba. They want me to be happy, and I'm happier here with you than I've ever been. They couldn't possibly hate you."

She acknowledged the truth of his statement with a noncommittal shrug, still not convinced. "That doesn't mean they'll _like_ me. And I want them to like me, Fiyero. I want them to be happy that you chose me."

"What's not to like?" She made a sarcastic noise under her breath at that, and he caught her gently by the chin, tilting her face so she was looking up at him. "Elphaba, you're brilliant, you're beautiful, you're the strongest person I know. You've survived and held yourself together through things that would have destroyed anyone else. My parents are going to be _thrilled_ when they meet you. _Beyond_ thrilled, even."

She looked up at him hopefully. "You really think so?"

"I _know_ so," he corrected her with a smile. "You're exactly the kind of person they've always hoped I'd end up with. In fact, I strongly suspect that once they meet you, they're going to like you better than me."

Elphaba couldn't help but laugh at that notion. The idea of his parents – or anyone, for that matter – preferring her over Fiyero was utterly absurd in her mind. But his joking prediction helped to reassure her, and when the King and Queen of the Vinkus finally arrived, she was able to stand next to him and greet them without making it obvious how nervous she was.

And, as it turned out, all her worries over meeting Fiyero's parents had been completely unnecessary. It usually irked Elphaba when he was right and she was wrong, but in this case, she was more than happy to have been mistaken. His mother and father, or Ghoran and Jerréda as they'd requested she call them, seemed genuinely pleased to meet her, and eager to get to know her. Their easy and immediate acceptance swept away the last of her tension, and she quickly came to feel more comfortable with them than she had with her own family. Soon she was debating politics with Ghoran, and laughing until she cried at embarrassing stories Jerréda told her about Fiyero when he was growing up (much to the chagrin of the subject of said stories). After meeting them, it was easy to understand how Fiyero had become the person she knew and loved today.

Fiyero's parents had gotten to the palace a little early so they could spend time getting to know Elphaba, but soon enough the leaders of the other three provinces arrived, and it was time for Glinda to convene the council. Summoning the person in charge of Munchkinland had proved a bit difficult, since a new leader had never been officially appointed after Nessarose's death. Technically the position should have gone to Elphaba, since she was her sister's only living relative, but she had been quick to refuse it. It would only have been a painful reminder of her father and sister, for one thing, and for another, she couldn't very well help Glinda run things from the Emerald City if she was living in Munchkinland. She suggested that her friend appoint Boq the new Governor of Munchkinland instead – he had a better idea than just about anyone of how bad things had gotten under Nessarose, and of what needed to be done to get the province back to normal. Boq had accepted the offer, happy for the chance to help the people of his homeland, and had moved back to Munchkinland just a short time before, though he staunchly refused to set foot in the Governor's Manson ever again. Now he joined the King and Queen of the Vinkus, the Prime Minister of Gillikin, and the representative elected by the people of Quadling Country in their council with Oz's new ruler.

Elphaba was invited in as well, and Glinda introduced her to the others as someone who would be one of her most trusted advisers. She fielded questions from all of them about her thoughts on any number of issues, from the punishment of convicted criminals to Oz's trade agreements with the surrounding nations. In the end, they all seemed favorably impressed with her knowledge of each of their provinces and the problems they faced with the recent regime change. They also listened attentively to her suggestions on how she thought some of those problems might best be solved.

"You were fantastic, Elphie!" Glinda declared with a beaming smile once the meeting was over and they had been left alone. "You see, they all like you already! You can't tell me now that you think any of them would object to you sharing power with me."

"The leaders of the provinces are one thing," maintained Elphaba. "The _people_ of those provinces are quite another."

"I already told you – sheep, remember?"

"There are always going to be some sheep who don't like where the shepherdess is trying to lead them, Glinda."

The blonde frowned at her. "Yes, and then there are the ones like you who run in the complete opposite direction from everybody else just to be perverse. You promised, Elphie! You said that if the meeting with the council went well, you would let me see what people think of you being my co-ruler. Well, the meeting went splendidly, so now it's time for you to hold up your end of the bargain."

"I did promise," Elphaba acquiesced, holding up her hands in defeat. "All right, you can see. But I'm not going to let you force me into this if people are against it. I don't want to be hated again, and I don't want them to hate you, either."

"Well, I guess that's fair," Glinda conceded. "I don't want to be hated any more than you do."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"But I don't think either of us is going to have to worry about being hated. I told you a long time ago, I know all about making people popular. This is going to work just as well as my other two plans did, you just wait and see."

So Elphaba waited, and she did see. Apparently there was something to Glinda's theory of sheep and shepherdess after all. The blonde first put the idea of making Elphaba her co-ruler to the small council of the provincial leaders, who were all very much in favor of the proposal after their meeting with both witches. And in general, just as Glinda had predicted, the opinions of the common folk of Oz aligned with the opinions of the people in charge. If the leader of a province approved of something, chances were it would be accepted by the majority (though in Munchkinland, Boq was obliged to reassure the people in the most adamant terms that Elphaba was nothing like her sister). Soon the green girl could not deny that, by and large, people seemed to be supportive of the idea of her and Glinda ruling Oz together, and she could no longer refuse her friend.

However, with a sudden flash of inspiration, she stipulated that in order for her to accept the position, Glinda would have to include some Animals in the council as well to make sure that Animal interests were adequately represented. This caused some waves among the general populace, but neither Glinda nor any of the provincial leaders had any objection to Elphaba's condition, so it was granted. And the first Animal she asked Glinda to appoint was their venerable history professor from Shiz.

Doctor Dillamond had survived the battle at the Animal hideout – he had been knocked unconscious by a blow to the head, and after that the soldiers had left him alone, assuming that he was dead. Awakening to find himself alone, he had quietly slipped away and gone to reunite with his family, who he hadn't seen since being taken away from Shiz. He had been staying with them ever since, keeping as low a profile as he could, until he heard the news of Glinda's succession and Elphaba's return from the dead. When he learned that she was still alive, he had sent Elphaba a letter to tell her that he was all right, and now she was delighted to welcome him, along with several other Animals, as an honored member of the council.

After that first council meeting in which Animals participated, Glinda made her way over to where the green girl was sitting at the room's large central table. "Well, Elphie," she said, "I've done what you asked. The Animals have plenty of representation on the council now. Are you ready to do what _I_ asked? Are you ready to help me whip this place into shape?"

Elphaba looked up at her friend and nodded. "I'm ready," she confirmed. "We've got a lot of work to do, and it won't be easy, but together we can get it done."

"We'll be Oz's favorite team," envisioned Glinda, hardly able to contain her enthusiasm. "You and me, working together, the way it should have been all along."

Elphaba couldn't help but smile as she heard a faint echo of her own thoughts from long ago. _Held in such high esteem… when people see me they will scream, for half of Oz's favorite team…_ Glinda had no idea just how appropriate her prediction really was. And as she stood and they left the room together, Elphaba knew that finally, at long last, she was making good.

No, not making good. Making _great._

* * *

**And so the bad guys got punished and the good guys went off to live happily ever after… or at least, that was what was supposed to happen. But we all know that trouble is drawn to Elphaba like moths to a flame. How long will it be before it finds her again? The answer is in the upcoming sequel to Lost and Found… -drumroll- Shadows of the Past!**

**Reviews won't bring you another chapter this time. But they will bring you a teaser/BRIEF summary of Shadows of the Past.**


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